Illusia
by tulip meadow
Summary: Once upon a time, a witch cast a love spell over a knight. They got married, then the knight was killed, but the witch bore him a daughter. Illusia, the daughter of Lamia. Illusia, with a star's blood in her veins. She who changed everything in Stardust. Featuring: Tristan/Yvaine, Primus/OC, Septimus/OC, hints of Humphry/Victoria and Dunstan/Una.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Once upon a time, long ago in Stormhold, there lived a noble knight named Earl Edwin, the Knight of the Mountain Lion. He was just like other knights – he had a coat of arms and a motto, he rode a golden horse, and he had a beautiful castle in his possession. There is a legend that he visited Britain and was acquainted with King Arthur himself, but it has no proof.

Edwin's castle was a great one – suitable for both war and peaceful life. Every chamber in it was occupied but one – a chamber built by Edwin for his future wife, the lady he would fight for and sing praises to. But no lady whom Edwin came to love had crossed the knight's path.

The earl felt sad about it. He could easy enter into a marriage of convenience, but he didn't wish to. He longed to find someone to love. But alas! he lived alone and lonely for forty years.

One day he watched a shooting star while sitting in his garden, and his uncle, a warlock, told him to seek happiness in the place where the star had fallen. The knight agreed and departed on the next day. In the night before the departure he saw a dream of the field hit by the meteor. He saw a pretty red-haired girl, dressed in strange silvery clothes, lying there on the ground with half-closed shy gray eyes as though unconscious. Edwin realized that she was certainly the true love he had searched for.

But when he got to the field in reality (the road took him four days), he found no such girl there. He grew desperate and looked for her everywhere in the neighborhood. Suddenly, he came across a beautiful palace that he had never heard of before. Three ladies came out of it to greet him, and Edwin caught his breath. They were the loveliest women he had ever seen.

One was short, with shoulder-length ebony black curls, rosy dimpled cheeks and large sky blue eyes. The taller one was a bit plump (that made her look more attractive), with long bronze hair and dark eyes. But the tallest of the women was the most gorgeous one. Her hair was literally the color of gold, it even sparkled, her skin looked like porcelain, she had sweet grayish eyes, and a kind of majestic elegance her companions' figures lacked.

"Hello. Who are you and what brought you to such wilderness, dear stranger?" the plump woman asked in a beautiful contralto voice. Edwin reluctantly drew his eyes away from the blonde and tried to remember why he had arrived there.

"Eh… My name's Earl Edwin, the Knight of the Mountain Lion. I'm searching for a young girl with long red hair dressed in a sparking silvery gown…" the knight murmured.

"Oh, that poor thing!" the blonde exclaimed. Her voice rang like a gold bell. "She fell from a tree and died. We wanted to bury her, but wolves took her body away."

"What a pity…" Edwin said, barely caring about what he had said.

"You seem exhausted, sir," the short woman said. "Would you care to rest in our humble yet welcoming house?"

"Thank you, it would be such a pleasure!" the knight cried.

"Well, then, allow us to introduce ourselves," the blond beauty spoke in her singsong voice. "We are sisters. I'm the eldest one. My name is Lamia, this is Mormo, and the youngest is called Empusa."

The tired knight was escorted into the palace by plump Mormo. As he passed Lamia, he thought he saw a greenish ray of light coming from her fingers, aimed at him. He blinked, and the light disappeared. But right at the moment he realized quite plainly that he would never want to leave the golden-haired woman. Although, he did notice after his hallucination with the green light that there was a small gray tress in Lamia's sparkling hair.

Just on the next day Earl Edwin proposed marriage to the strange Lamia, and she accepted on the condition that her sisters would live in Edwin's palace as well.

At first the population of Edwin's earldom was thrilled with the arrival of such a beautiful lady. But then, strange things began to happen. Edwin, who had been known as a most kind and generous master, became a greedy tyrant. He constantly led wars with his neighbors, and one day he announced that he was going to plan a revolution in the whole country of Stormhold.

"Lady Lamia has bewitched him…" the common people used to say in a hushed whisper. They did not know their guess was perfectly correct.

As for Lamia herself, she always said to her sisters:

"How wonderful is that I married an Earl. With such a rank, we can access the throne of Stormhold – at least…"

"And what about Edwin?" Mormo or Empusa would ask.

"Edwin? Oh, he's a dull thing – though I pity him, poor stupid boy, he fell in love with me even before I cast the charm over him. I think we'll send him to some very remote isle when we become queens."

Sometimes, the sisters would appear aging – here and there some unfortunate nobleman noticed a silver hair, a wrinkled hand, a crooked nose in the appearance of the ladies. But when they caught the wondering glances, they quickly went to their chambers and always came outside looking young and lovely again.

One day, when Edwin was in the midst of planning his revolution, Lamia found out the most irritating thing. She was with child. The sisters came to a hurried meeting to decide whether to keep it or not. Finally, as Lamia was in a very good mood, she said:

"The child will not do us harm in any case. We'll keep it and let it grow up as our constant servant."

Nine months later, a little golden-haired girl was born. After some consideration, the sisters gave her the name of Illusia.

Another two months passed, and Edwin's plans of taking over the throne were found out because of the Earl's small mistake. Lamia, Mormo and Empusa immediately fled the earldom, taking little Illusia with them. Without his controlling and fearless wife, Edwin wasn't able to escape justice. He was soon hanged, his castle was abandoned, and his land was divided between other noblemen of Stormhold.

The king searched high and low for Lamia, Mormo and Empusa, because the earldom's inhabitants were sure Edwin planned the revolution under these evil sisters' pressure. But the women were nowhere to be found. Their palace had become invisible, and the witches, along with little Illusia, disappeared from the people's sight and then from everyone's memory. Peace returned, and after several decades few men even knew about the unfortunate history of Earl Edwin and his wicked family.


	2. A Star's Blood

**From this chapter on – Illusia's POV.**

**A Star's Blood**

"Illusia! Where are you?"

The deep, almost baritone voice of Aunt Mormo. I know it perfectly. And I hate it.

"ILLUSIA!"

I remained silent in my hiding place – under the dusty sofa. I knew they'd find me anyway, but nevertheless I want to postpone the thing that's coming. I didn't have any idea of what exactly is coming, but it couldn't be a good thing.

"ILLUSIA! COME HERE NOW! Or I'll turn you into a frog!"

"Fine!" I surrendered. I've always hated frogs. Especially since my family used them – or their corpses, to be exact – for their magic.

I got up and ran to Mormo. She was standing near the front door of our living place (one can be only too generous to call it a house). In one of her fat wrinkled hands there was a small bluish box wrapped in several dusty ribbons. In the other – the ever-present knife that she used to cut our poor animals into pieces. There was a table by her side, covered with something that possibly used to be a weasel.

"I'm almost a centenarian now," she groaned. "My hands are so weak. Lamia and Empusa wouldn't let me get young again – they insist on waiting until we turn into living skeletons. But now that they are fighting with that warlock far away, I think I can use a little youth…"

I didn't know what she was talking about. When I heard anything about "getting young" in my mother and her sisters' conversation, mother would always tell me to go into my room.

"Take the box and open it. The ribbons are charmed, but Lamia taught you to break such spells," Mormo commanded. I shrugged and did as I was told. My aunt began trembling with excitement and suddenly dropped the knife. Right onto my hand.

I shrieked as a fountain of blood sprang out of it. Of course, Mormo paid no attention to my wound. She lifted the lid of the box and grinned widely as I saw something golden and glowing inside.

"Cut a piece of it, a little piece," Mormo was even kind while observing the golden substance. I noticed that it was burning, so I took it with my bleeding hand, hoping to sear the wound, and cut the piece Mormo asked for with my free hand.

"No!" Mormo cried as she put the box onto the table and snatched both golden pieces away from me. "What have you done!"

"What?" I asked, frightened.

"You held the heart against your open wound while cutting! Now you have the star's blood in your veins!"

"What does that mean, Aunt?" I wanted to know.

"Oh, that means that you now have an endless life with endless youth," Mormo cringed. "Moreover, you will not grow older after using magic, as we do, because you have the wretched star's last drops of blood in your veins. So you are actually a half-blooded star now…"

"Aunt, explain in details!" I pleaded. So she told me that the person who eats a star's heart remains young forever if he or she doesn't use magic. My mother and her sisters did use magic daily, so they always tried to track down some shooting star, capture her and eat her heart to prolong their youth. But as I had a star's _blood _in my blood vessels now, I needed nothing to prolong it.

After explaining this in a bitter and angry tone, Mormo ate the piece that I've cut – and immediately the fat wrinkled ogre with a man's voice turned into a slightly plump tanned girl with a beautiful contralto. Mormo used to look like this in my early childhood.

"Get away, you, now!" she snapped. "Perhaps I will turn you into a frog after all!"

"Well, who will be your constant servant in that case?" I asked sarcastically. "A disobedient maid is better than no maid at all."

Mormo grunted something under her breath and let me go after all.

I rushed into my room, tears forming in my eyes. Goodness! I wasn't happy with my new gift of eternal youth at all. Now, I thought, I'll remain strong and healthy while decades and centuries pass, which means I will always be a slave in this place. If my family doesn't have a change of heart one day – which is highly unlikely.

I sat at the window and sank into daydreaming. The only thing that keeps me alive. I've secretly read different fairytale stories in our magic books, and I like to imagine myself a heroine of such a story.

Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty… Oh, how I'd have loved to be one of them! I sat on the windowsill and pretended that I was Cinderella, that some kind fairy would soon trick my evil relatives and bring me far away, into some palace, where I would be dressed in a golden dress and crystal shoes and marry some Prince Charming.

Then I imagined myself as Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. It would be wonderful for me to fall asleep and not hear the witches' yelling and cursing, not hear anything until Prince Charming would wake me up and marry me…

Of course, I knew these daydreams were silly. I wasn't acquainted with any kind fairies, and also there were no Princes Charming in Stormhold. There were princes – many princes – but they were usually greedy and selfish, obsessed with getting the throne and murdering their brothers and other possible heirs.

But if I didn't dream, I would have never survived. Especially now, with an eternity of torture and slavery stood before me, and I didn't know what to do with it.

This is how, when being twenty years old, I became a star of some kind. I would have given anything to learn a way of how a star can get to the sky from Earth if she isn't allowed anywhere near these precious Babylon candles…

What an irony: when I became almost a star, my future became really dark.


	3. The Last Candle

**The Last Candle**

Two hundred years had passed. No more stars had fallen. I was still young and blossoming. Empusa, the least careful of us, was already as old as the hills. Mormo became more calculating with magic, so she looked no more than sixty. Mom, judging by her looks, was in her early eighties.

One day, when I behaved relatively well, we were sitting peacefully in front of a fireplace, when the fire suddenly turned deep scarlet. Before I could figure anything out, the strange color disappeared, and the flames returned back to normal.

"Ignita, that sick coward, is threatening us again," Mom murmured. "About six hundred years is all the rest she can allow herself, I presume. I think we should shut her up for once and for all."

I recalled them telling me about Ignita. Apparently she was some witch whose house was made of fire. She was Mom's childhood friend, but then she quarreled with her and they began to have regular fights.

"Well, for this you need a Babylon candle," Mormo's voice brought me back to reality. "Ignita's house is constantly moving."

Mom walked to our so-called cupboard and opened it.

"Hm," she sighed. "There's only one candle left. What if a star falls from the sky?"

"No star has been the Earth's guest in two hundred years, and it might be the same for another two centuries!" Mormo exclaimed. "Yet Ignita is here, making us look like cowards by sending charms right into our house!"

"Perhaps, if no more stars fall from above, we can use Illusia's heart," suggested Empusa, glancing at me. I clenched my fists. And I thought they had some kind feelings towards me! What a fool I was! Well, they won't get my heart easily!

"Illusia is less than half-blooded," Mom shook her heard. "She has enough blood to be immortal herself, but not enough to give immortality to other people."

I sighed with relief. Meanwhile, Mormo and Empusa continued to persuade Mom to fight Ignita.

"We'll be the laughing stocks of Stormhold!" Empusa cried. "Three powerful witches unable to fight a feeble one!"

"No star has fallen as for now, we can find a fresh supply of candles after beating Ignita," Mormo agreed. Mom looked confused. She looked at the black wax cylinder in her hands, then at the fireplace, then at the candle again. Suddenly, an idea dawned upon her.

"Why not send Illusia to fight Ignita? She will go fighting, and I will depart to search for Babylon candles. You two will stay to protect our house."

"But of course!" Empusa caught me by the elbow. "Illusia has a talent. She knows how to use magical weapons. Besides, her arrival will disappoint Ignita, who's probably waiting for one of us!"

"Oh," I breathed. If Ignita had a better temper, I would have offered to help her instead of going to fight her. But the witch was no better than my family.

"You will go," Mom said in a tone that allowed no objections. She handed me the candle and gave me a brief instruction on strategy. I went to the fireplace and lit the candle, thinking of Ignita and her house.

Immediately I felt myself being lifted up in a shining yellow tornado. It swirled and swirled until my head was spinning, and when I thought I would collapse, finally, it vanished. I found myself standing in front of a villa literally constructed of flames. The heat radiated from it, and sweat started to form on my face.

I put the candle in my pocket, outstretched my hands and cast the aqua spell. In a flash two springs of water flew from my hands at the fire.

Ignita – an incredibly old witch with tanned skin – rushed outside. She stopped in her tracks, though, obviously shocked to see me.

"Lamia?" she asked, her reddish brown eyes wide. "But the last star fell two hundred years ago… I can't believe you preserve your youth so wonderfully…"

You see, my dear family had never told anyone about me.

"No, you're not Lamia…" Ignita continued. "Your hair is darker, and – why, you look no older than twenty! I know Lamia doesn't look like this, two centuries after pursuing a star's heart!"

"I'm not Lamia, I'm Illusia, her daughter and partly a star," I said.

"Partly a star?" Ignita's eyes lit up with greed. I knew it! She drew a kitchen knife and aimed it at me. I laughed and cast a protection charm. Ignita ran outside, determined to get my heart at any cost.

That very moment, I threw gallons of water onto her house. Smoke filled my nostrils, it was horrible, but I continued hosing the aqua spell until the house turned into a heap of wet ash.

Ignita looked at it, dazed. Suddenly, she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.

"I have nowhere to live! My magical books made of flames, my spells – all lost!"

"Construct another fire-building and I will destroy it again," I said, ready to use the aqua spell once more.

Ignita knelt before me.

"Please, construct a new house for me – a wooden one, a brick, anything, please! I won't bother Lamia, Mormo and Empusa anymore! I promise!"

I knew Mom wouldn't have believed such promises. But I felt different about such matters. I reluctantly pointed at the nearby bush and turned it into a nice two-story wooden house.

"Oh, thank you, dear!" Ignita cried, now with joy. Knowing my mother, she certainly didn't expect such generosity from me. She handed me a small emerald bracelet.

"It's used for communicating with each other – just like your mother's garnet ring. If you ever need help, Illusia, rub the bracelet and ask me anything. Though I have no magic books anymore, I have a good life experience."

"Thanks," I smiled and hugged the witch. Now, I thought with an ironic chuckle, my Cinderella-based dreams have started to become real! I have a kind fairy to help me, and the rest I need is _only _a prince, a grand ball, and a pair of crystal shoes.

"We are now only seven miles away from your house. Better go on foot and save the half of the candle that you still have left," Ignita advised. I agreed, thanked her once more and left for home, stuffing the candle into my pocket.


	4. A Star Has Fallen

**A Star Has Fallen**

When I came home and retired to my room, I instantly rubbed the emerald bracelet. Ignita's face appeared in the largest of emeralds.

"Well, what's that? A test?" she smiled.

"Not exactly. I was thinking if I could run away from here right now – I have the Babylon candle, after all."

"Oh, no, no, you'd better not. Lamia will search for you and find you, and life will only get worse. Wait until a star falls and the three of them get concerned with it, you'll be able to disappear without anyone noticing."

"Alright," I had to admit she was right.

Another two centuries passed. Though, they were easier to cope with – while biding my time and waiting for the star, I often called Ignita using the precious bracelet. We actually became good friends – as she had once remarked, I reminded her of Mom in her first, real youth. I was glad but I subconsciously feared to turn into present-day Mom in a thousand years or so. When I told Ignita about it, she laughed and assured me:

"Nonsense. You will not become Lamia's copy, at least because you don't need to hunt down stars."

So, two hundred years went away. And one day – or, better to say, in the middle of the night I was awoken by Mom knocking on the table and shouting:

"Mormo! Empusa! Illusia! Wake up! Now!"

"What is it?" my aunts yawned.

"A star has fallen," Mom announced triumphantly.

"Oh!" Mormo and Empusa jumped out of the bed. I followed them in a moment.

Mom was already making her way to the cupboard.

"Where are the Babylon candles?"

"Illusia used the last one, Lamia, two hundred years ago, and you were unable to find a fresh supply – do you not recall?" Mormo snapped angrily.

"Perhaps we can obtain another," Empusa suggested. Mom turned to her:

"Has your mind become as crippled as your face, Empusa?" she hissed. "You speaks as though such things are really available!"

They ignored me, as usual. That was fortunate, because my hand was trembling and clenching the candle I had in my pocket. I barely heard their conversation – they decided to go after the star on foot and drew lots to find out who would go. Mom won, naturally.

"Are you going to take Illusia with you?" Empusa asked. Her face expressed hope that they would be free from a burden like me for some time.

"Probably," Mom shrugged. "She can help me. Fortunately, we don't need to share our prize with her."

Oh no. I never want to kill anyone…

"Illusia, pack your bag, and we'll leave," Mom commanded.

"Yes," I curtsied and ran to my room. There I took a charcoal from the fireplace and wrote a message on the wall:

_I am sorry, but I don't want to be a murderess. I'm leaving. I promise I will never harm you, and, as for the star, you know I don't need it at all._

I quickly thought about where I would like to go. I rubbed my emerald bracelet to consult Ignita, but instead of the witch's face in the largest emerald I saw a reflection of a gravestone.

I couldn't hold back my tears. The only friend I had in the world was dead – most certainly killed by some other magician… I had secretly hoped she'd allow me to live with her, but now I was alone in this world again.

For a while I considered going to the sky and becoming a star, but then I realized it would be ridiculous. I didn't know any of the stars, they wouldn't have considered me one of them. I'd have been alone up there, just like here.

After a while, I figured out I'd go to the fallen star and warn her about her planned fate. I sighed, put the candle into the fireplace and felt the familiar sensation of being swirled in a yellow tornado.

"The fallen star, the fallen star…" I murmured.

When the wind calmed down, I found myself sitting in a crater, with my hand covered in black wax. By my side I saw a young blond girl in a silvery dress, wearing a topaz necklace. She was staring at me, terrified.

"Hello, Miss Star," I said awkwardly.

"Yvaine," she corrected. "How do you now I'm a star?"

"I'm an enchantress," I told her. "I came here to warn you. There's a witch seeking you to cut out your heart and eat it."

Yvaine's face blanched.

"How can I escape?" she whispered.

"I'll try to protect you," I said. "Don't worry, I won't harm you. I'm immortal and forever young anyway, so I don't even need to eat your heart."

"What am I to do?" the star asked.

"Er… right now we must go as far as we can in the west direction. The witch lives a hundred miles to the east, and she doesn't have a Babylon candle. On our way we might figure out how to get you back to the sky or hide you safely."

"The only way to get me back is to get a Babylon candle ourselves," Yvaine said sadly. "But maybe there are some kind wizards on Earth who will hide me. By the way, Miss…"

"Illusia."

"Miss Illusia, can you find me a shelter?"

"No," I shook my head. "The witch that's searching for you happens to be my mother, and the only shelter I have is my house, which is her house."

Yvaine was going to say something, when, suddenly, a yellow sphere flew to us from the sky. I recognized it: it was the light of a Babylon candle. When it faded, we saw a startled boy of no more than eighteen years of age.

"Mother?" he asked, confused.

"What? I'm not your mother!" Yvaine and I said in unison. His eyes widened with shock, until realization dawned upon him and he whispered something like that:

"Oh… light the candle and think of me… I was, I was thinking of my mom… but then Victoria and the star just popped in…"

He looked at us.

"Uh… excuse me, this may sound silly, but has any of you seen a fallen star?"

"What do you need one for?" I inquired suspiciously.

"I'm going to bring it to England, as a birthday gift to Victoria, my true love," the boy announced proudly. Yvaine was enraged. She wanted to say something, but I stopped her and spoke:

"This girl, Yvaine, is the star. But you can't bring her to England. If she crosses the Wall between Stormhold and England, she'll become just a lump of metallic rock."

"But Victoria…" the boy muttered.

"I doubt she'll marry you if you tell her that you have killed a perfectly innocent helpless person," I said. The boy was lost. I pitied him: I've read many fairytale about love. Finally, I came up with a solution:

"Why don't you take, for example, a lock of Yvaine's hair? Or even better – the stone from her necklace? It is whitish and sparkling – just like a tiny star."

"An excellent idea! Thank you so much!" he clapped. Yvaine took off her necklace, and I used my knife (I had to carry one to assist Mormo with her vivisection) to pull the stone out of it. The boy took it:

"Thanks again. Do you have a light…"

He suddenly stopped and stared at the gem. I rushed to him to see what had fascinated him.

The gem grew scarlet in his hand.

"Was it _your_ necklace, Yvaine?" I asked.

"No, in fact, it came from Earth and knocked me out of the sky!"

"Then the stone must be the Royal Stone of Stormhold!" I exclaimed. "But it turns red only when held by a man from Stormhold's royal family!"

"Stuff and nonsense!" the boy cried. "My name's only Tristan Thorn, I'm a son of Dunstan Thorn, an English farmer, and a florist girl from the market town in Stormhold. I'm not connected with any royalty."

He handed the stone back to Yvaine, and it whitened again.

"But a red stone isn't like a star at all, so what can I do now?"

I thought for a while again:

"Oh, Tristan, why don't you take me to your Victoria? I have some star's blood in my veins, but I was born an earthling, so I can cross the Wall."

"If you don't mind, then yes," Tristan's face lit up.

"Let's do it this way. We'll use the Babylon candle to get to the gap in the Wall. Yvaine needs protection, so we'll leave her there – there's a constant guard at the gap, isn't there? You and I will go to your Victoria, but as I'm a living person, Victoria will probably let me go after only having a look at me. I'll return to Stormhold, and then I'll take care of Yvaine."

"Agreed," Tristan nodded. Yvaine reluctantly admitted that the plan was the best one possible so far.

We took each other's hands, and Tristan took his candle out. Suddenly, he saddened again.

"What's it?" Yvaine asked worriedly. "Nothing dangerous?"

"No, just… we don't have any fire here."


	5. The Unicorn

**The Unicorn**

I groaned.

"I know the aqua spell, but not the ignis one – the latter is a secret of several powerful witches. We should go on foot, then."

"The fire in the crater has died," Yvaine added sadly and somehow absent-mindedly. She was now sure we had the bad luck in our adventure.

"But isn't it dangerous to go on foot to the Wall?" Tristan exclaimed.

"Less dangerous than sitting here and waiting for my mother to arrive," I shrugged. "Where exactly is that Wall?"

"Several hundred miles north," the boy replied. "Oh dear. Victoria promised to marry me if I bring her a star in a week."

"Perhaps we'll come across a Babylon candle," I smiled reassuringly. "Let's just go – now."

"I can't go," Yvaine whimpered. "My leg is broken."

"That can be fixed," I knelt down and put the healing spell onto her leg. Yvaine shivered. I grinned:

"Try to get up."

She stood up, tried to walk, and her face brightened (literally).

"Oh thank you, Illusia!" she ran to me and hugged me.

"Now, now," I was flattered. No one save for Ignita had ever thanked me. "Everyone's ready, so let's all hurry up."

We walked away from the crater, heading north. Tristan decided to entertain us with some stories about life in England (which turned out to be mostly stories about the fairest, cleverest, sweetest Victoria Forester), so at least I wasn't bored. Yvaine listened attentively for an hour, but after Tristan said for the ninth time that Victoria's hair was the color of sunshine and her voice rang like a nightingale's song, Yvaine yawned and turned away.

In the morning Yvaine insisted on going to sleep. Tristan tried to protest, but I firmly spoke imitating Mom's commanding voice:

"We need to rest, and also we need to keep Yvaine comfortable! If she'd better walk at night, then so be it! I'll be on guard. I'm able to stay awake for several days."

Yvaine curled up under a tree, and Tristan laid his head under a berry bush. I sighed and watched them fall asleep. They both looked so peaceful! I wished I'd be this peaceful some time! Even now, more than a hundred miles away from Mom, Aunt Mormo and Aunt Empusa, I was constantly ready to hear a loud shriek – something like "ILLUSIA! WHERE ARE YOU? COME AND HELP ME TO CUT THIS FERRET'S LEGS!"

I gathered berries from the bush under which Tristan slept and divided them between the three of us. I ate my portion right away, and laid the ones for Yvaine and Tristan by their sides.

I had never eaten berries before, but I knew every poison in the world, thanks to Mom. These things that I ate now (blackberries, as I found out later) were certainly perfectly harmless.

There were still many hours left before dusk, so I cut some oak branches to find out where my mother was. I didn't want to kill animals, but oak branches were fine for me.

"Mom is going after us," I whispered as I hit the branches with my knife several times. "She took a different route, but she'll intercept us if we continue going straight north… We must be careful… Now, let me see, is someone else searching for Yvaine?"

I cut the branch again and blanched:

"What? Is someone seeking Yvaine's heart?"

I looked at the branch and was confused.

"No one? Didn't I just see?.."

I repeated both questions, and the answers were the same. Finally, it dawned on me. Someone was searching for Yvaine all right, but not for her heart!

My family never told me much about stars. I didn't know what lucky charms stars could cast. I was at a loss, so I questioned further:

"Who are those seeking Yvaine?"

I thrust the knife into the branch, and my heart froze. Two men of royal blood were searching for the poor star, and, furthermore, one of them led a group of several armed soldiers.

I looked around, searching for any living thing. I could turn a lifeless object into a carriage, but only a living creature could be turned into a horse. Alas, the forest was quiet. No birds sang, no mosquitoes flew by. Everything was frightened by Yvaine's fall, obviously.

I calculated every possible route for us to take to get away from Mom, and thus I spent my day.

The sun set, at last. Yvaine and Tristan slowly opened their eyes almost at the same time.

"Eat the berries," I said. "We need not to be hungry when we continue walking."

Both of them were starving, so they didn't need to be asked twice.

Suddenly, I heard the grass rustling and branches crackling. I instantly prepared to hose whatever the enemy it was with a downpour of ice cold water.

It wasn't an enemy. It was a gracious white unicorn. I hadn't seen one before, but I saw pictures of them in books. They were wild and furious with everyone but kind-hearted maidens.

Fortunately, this unicorn considered Yvaine and me kind-hearted, as he walked to us slowly and elegantly without any intention to attack.

"Oh, come here, dearie!" Yvaine smiled gently and handed him some berries. I chuckled, but the unicorn lowered his head and ate them.

"Isn't it dangerous?" Tristan whispered to me.

"No, he (not it!) always obeys soft-hearted maidens. Harm will not come to us since a unicorn is with us," I said cheerfully. "How should we name him?"

The unicorn shook his head and drew a silvery line in the air with his horn. The line twisted and became a signature: "MURIAS".

"Murias!" Yvaine exclaimed.

"Yes, I've heard they could introduce themselves in such a way," I nodded. "Now, Murias, won't you do us a favor and pull our carriage until we say otherwise?"

I shot a ray of light at the nearest leaf, and it turned into a beautiful emerald green carriage.

"All of you, get inside it!" I said. "My mother's nearby. We must go north-west, as quickly as possible."


	6. The Two Stars

**The Two Stars**

I sat on the unicorn's back, and Tristan and Yvaine were in the carriage. Murias began running. Oh, he ran like the wind itself! And he chose the most suitable directions himself, unless I commanded him. I only had to look at my branch to find out whether the coast is clear.

Suddenly, after half an hour or so, I saw the most alarming signs on the branch.

"Mom's going right after us!" I cried. "These two princes, too, have located us!"

I heard Yvaine's frightened cry. My mind was working furiously. What were we to do? We couldn't go anywhere – obviously, our enemies could track us down. The only thing we could do was surrender.

"But we mustn't let Mom win…" I whispered. "She will kill Yvaine, and probably Tristan, and punish me severely – just after I had some freedom in my life… Therefore, we should choose between the other two… I think we must wait for the prince who's alone. He's not after Yvaine's heart – maybe he'll let her live. As Tristan and I are no use to him, he'll set us free, and we can plan Yvaine's escape…"

"Murias!" I said aloud. "Go southwest – not very fast!"

The unicorn obeyed. I turned to Tristan and Yvaine and told them my plan. Neither of them seemed pleased.

"Can't you see – we're trapped?" I exclaimed. "If we run away, Mom will get us first. I know her only too well to know what fate awaits us in that case. But that prince is a human being, and he's not after your heart, Yvaine. Perhaps we can at least convince him to spare our lives."

Just at that moment, another carriage almost crashed into ours. Its driver, a well-dressed man of now less than forty, with almost gray hair, frowned, annoyed, and asked me:

"Where are your eyes, young lady? Can't you see the road in front of you?"

My branch already told me this was the prince who traveled alone. I made a sorry face and said:

"I'm incredibly sorry, Your Highness. I can't drive a carriage, unlike experienced people such as you, sir."

There! The talent of Flattery is a wonderful thing. It works better than the most powerful spells. The man's expression softened instantly:

"Well, never mind. No harm was done. By the way, what brings a rich lady into these wild forests?"

"Pure chance," I smiled. It was true, after all. "I'm traveling, at my leisure." Wait! Here's the chance to find out what he's seeking… "But I have no doubt that Your Highness has some very important business even in a place so remote from the royal residence."

"You're right," he nodded. "The Royal Stone of Stormhold is missing. I have to retrieve it. Have you seen it, perhaps, miss?"

Thank goodness! He only needs the stone.

"Oh, since you've said, Your Highness – my friend has picked up a stone like it recently. We just had no idea that it is the Stone. We didn't know it was missing."

I jumped off, opened the carriage door and whispered:

"Yvaine! Give me that necklace of yours! I think the man needs only the stone!"

"But it's not the Royal…" Tristan protested.

"No time to think!" I whispered angrily, snatched the necklace and handed it to the prince with a curtsy. His eyes widened. The stone reddened as soon as it fell on his hand.

"That's it!" he said triumphantly. "I'm the King of Stormhold!"

Once again, I thanked Mom and Aunts for teaching me to react quickly. I put on a smile again, curtsied and spoke:

"Long live the King!"

"How can I thank you?" he asked.

"Oh, Your Majesty, if I may ask… I need a light. For a Babylon candle," I said hastily. The king laughed:

"Of course."

He took out two pieces of flint and gave them to me. I thought again and asked:

"Your Majesty, how far is your castle from here?"

"It will take a whole day of riding to get there," he said. Oh no. I thought of hiding Yvaine in the Stormhold Castle – I heard it was very well-guarded. But a day is too much. My mother will catch her.

"Then the last thing I dare to ask Your Majesty is to care for this unicorn, Murias," I said sadly. "We have to leave him, and he's so dear to me."

"Oh, it's an honor!" the king exclaimed. "Thank you, dear stranger."

"Murias," I commanded. "You will obey the king's orders, just as well as mine and Yvaine's. Understand?"

The unicorn nodded. I patted him and walked to the carriage, wanting to light the candle and get out of here, when, suddenly, I heard goats bleating, wheels screeching and a well-known woman's voice shouting "Quicker!"

"Your Majesty, ride away at once!" I screamed as I saddled Murias once more.

"Murias, get us away from my mother!"

The king was confused, but he climbed back onto his seat and shouted the same orders to his horses. We rode down the forest road and I used all of my magic to make us faster. Yet Mom was getting closer. To make matters worse, several black horses with riders dressed in black appeared in the distance.

"That's my dreadful brother with his men!" the king shouted to me. "He's no better than the witch with the goats."

Tristan and Yvaine shrieked and cried. Suddenly I knew what to do. I gave them the flint and ordered:

"Use the candle to get to the Market Town. Wait for me there."

Unfortunately, they didn't seem to hear me. As they rubbed the flint with trembling hands, I heard Tristan saying to himself "Home, only home, and damn the stars!" and Yvaine whimpering "Oh, back to the sky, just back to the sky!"

Wherever they'd get, I thought, they'd be safer than here. And, what is more, Mom and anyone else wouldn't be able to track the star down anymore, since I'm a half-blooded star too.

I felt the momentary warmth of the candle behind me and saw a golden circle rising into the sky.

"They've escaped," I sighed, relieved. At the same time, I felt more exhausted than ever in my life. I thought that even the dusty rug I slept on when Mom punished me was better that nothing.

I jumped off the unicorn and rolled into the grass. Let it be anything. Mom needs a servant – she won't kill me…

"Your Majesty!" I yelled as the king stopped the carriage to see what is wrong. "Ride on! Take the unicorn – he's faster! Just leave!"

The king, seemingly thinking that I was wounded, didn't listen and rushed to me, but stopped in his tracks.

My mother approached us and jumped off her carriage, which was driven by two goats. One of the goats was an enchanted man – I see Mom didn't waste her time…

Mom came to me and put a blade to my throat.

"Where is the star?" she hissed.

"I honestly don't know," I said and shot an aqua spell at her. I knew it wouldn't hurt her, but it confused her – just as I hoped. She shot a transformation spell at me – I shot one back. The green ray of her magic and the golden ray of mine collapsed into each other and fought. Neither won. We were equally powerful. Of course, there was always the ignis spell, but Mom had some parental feelings after all and wouldn't burn her own child.

"Honestly?" she asked, defeated.

"She got away using a Babylon candle," I said. "Where – I have no idea."

"You helped her!" Mom said, enraged.

"I promised not to hurt her or either of you," I said. "There was nothing in my promise about not helping her."

"If I wasn't in such a hurry, I would have turned you into a frog," she assured me. "But now I have no time to waste. Are you sure you don't want to go with me?"

"Yes," I said firmly. "Goodbye."

She shot a disdainful glance at me but walked to her carriage and rode away.

"She's gone for now," I smiled faintly and stood up. "Nothing to worry about."

"No, there is everything to worry about," the king grunted and pointed to the dark riders getting closer:

"There is still my _dear_ brother Septimus to deal with."


	7. On The Run

**Thanks to everyone who added the story to favorites or reviewed it!**

**On The Run**

"Well, that is hardly a problem," I said. "I can turn him into a goat or a lizard."

The king's eyes lit up.

"That's excellent! After all, it's very hard to kill one's sibling. Even if he wants to kill you. I try to avoid murders."

"So where exactly is your brother?" I turned to the approaching riders.

"I believe… yes, I think he's over there, leading the group," he pointed. I nodded and raised my hand to cast a transformation spell. A golden ray blinded everyone temporarily, but, to my utter amazement and confusion, it carefully circled the king's brother and turned to one of the other men. The man disappeared. Instead, a tiny lizard clung desperately to the leather saddle.

"Sorry, Your Majesty!" I shrieked. "A spell of some runes is protecting your brother! I can't break it! Only someone like my mother can…"

"Oh no," the king whispered. "I should have warned you. These runes used to belong to Glinten, a sorcerer, a servant of mine, whom I sent to spy on Septimus…"

"I see, apparently his mission has somehow failed," I said with a note of grim sarcasm. "Let's ride away. We have Murias – no normal horse can outrun him!"

I jumped on Murias's back, but the king remained.

"I'm not a coward!" he scowled. "I will stay here and fight him."

"Your Majesty, it's plain suicide!" I cried. "Your brother has several warriors to aid him, and I'm unable to spellbind every one of them at once. For now, it's better to hide!"

An arrow flew past us, narrowly missing the king's forehead.

"Come on!" I cried again. Finally, he was convinced and climbed on the unicorn's back as well.

"My good horses," he sighed sadly. "I don't want to leave them."

"Good fast horses won't be killed," I said. "When you defeat your brother, you'll get them back. But now… Murias! Run away from this group – as fast as you can!"

The unicorn nodded and immediately began galloping through the grove. If I had earlier thought he ran like a hurricane, I greatly underestimated him. Now everything turned into a fuzzy blur. I had to close my eyes and mouth, because the wind hurt them. It was literally a miracle that kept me and the king from falling to the ground.

"Thank goodness we have your unicorn!" the king yelled after fifteen minutes of the crazy ride. "Don't you think we should stop for a moment?!"

At least, I am sure he yelled, but with the wind howling in my ears, his voice reached me as a barely audible whisper.

"All right, I think your brother has lost us!" I shouted back. "Murias, stop!"

The clever animal didn't stop abruptly, else we would have certainly fallen down. First, the blur gradually turned into simple landscape, then the roaring wind in my ears died down, and then Murias slowed his pace and finally came to a complete stop on a meadow in some oak forest.

The king got down, then helped me.

"Thank you, Murias," he said to the unicorn. "You can rest now."

I was sure poor Murias breathed a sigh of relief. Despite being magical beasts, unicorns certainly know what exhaustion is.

Murias walked away and started eating grass, while the king lighted a fire and took some meat, vegetables, bread, honey and wine from his bag.

"If you're hungry, feel free to take some," he gestured to the food. "Don't worry, everything is perfectly safe. While Septimus is alive, my cooks work under my own observation and control."

"Thank you, sir," I curtsied and took a loaf of bread and three cucumbers.

"It is I who should be grateful," he smiled. "You saved my life and gave me the Royal Stone, miss. What's your name, by the way?"

"Illusia, sir," I said.

"You really are the daughter of that witch who seeks some star, aren't you?"

"Yes," I sighed. "She – well, you saw her and know what she is… But, well, she was the one who taught me magic."

"So do you know why she is hunting down the star?"

I briefly told him about the rejuvenation effect caused by eating a star's heart. I didn't tell him, though, about my own incident with rejuvenation. Eternal life and youth are a big temptation, so the king can forget his gratitude to me and try to kill me before I tell him it's no good.

"Oh," the king said after I finished the tale. "Stars are like humans!"

"That's unbelievable but true," I nodded. "They look like young maidens in silvery dresses."

"And do they do witchcraft?"

"Not at all… except, I think, for their golden shining that does wonders. But to shine really bright on Earth a star must be exceedingly happy and delighted, which, well, happens rarely."

"What a shame for the witches," the king observed. "Killing poor helpless girls for several more years of doing wizardry and not dying…"

I shrugged and pretended to be concerned on my supper. It was hard for me to talk about it. Lamia, Mormo and Empusa were evil, but they were my family after all.

After finishing eating, I took a tree branch to track down our friends and foes again.

"Yvaine and Tristan are in the clouds, poor things – halfway between their two homes, the result of their separate wishes and the Babylon candle… But they're alive and well, and that's what counts… Mom is currently two and a half hundred miles away, she's made a stop…" I murmured. "The runes confuse her… there are two stars (Yvaine and I) in separate places now… As for Septimus… he seems to have located us, or better to say his brother, and he's approaching us. But he's even farther than Mom – he's about four hundred miles east, he won't make it until tomorrow evening…"

"Your brother has traced us, Your Majesty," I said aloud. "But it will take him at least a day of continuous fast riding to reach us. We can have a rest now."

"Of course, nothing will stop Septimus!" he grumbled. "He has already killed three of his elder brothers in cold blood, and now he must be especially furious with me, because I've got the Stone!"

"How awful, sire!" I remarked, just to say something.

"Awful! It's a horror, a nightmare! When I was a small child, I dreamed of remaining the only son. Alas, father wanted just the opposite. 'It's a tradition that there should be several heirs.' He married that poor young fool Acrasia and later that dreadful Lady Malecasta just to have more sons, so that they would kill each other when they grow up! He beheaded Lady Malecasta just because she refused to give birth to more than one boy, saying that seven boys is the largest number of children she'll want to look after."

"Oh," I flinched, and then quickly made the calculations. Approximately the king was the eldest child, and there were seven brothers in total, so he must be called Primus. "And do you have any sisters, Your Majesty?"

His expression softened:

"We had a sister, Una. She was such a sweet, caring, gentle girl... Everyone adored her, even Lady Malecasta and Septimus. When she was fourteen… she disappeared. We searched high and low, but with no luck," he sighed. "Sometimes we hoped she's still alive… Without her, our _nice_ and _loving_ family quickly fell apart."

"I believe it truly was a terrible tragedy."

This time I spoke sincerely. From the fairytales I read, I imagined royal families to be rich, joyous and happy, with everyone having all they needed. Now I saw the crown prince of Stormhold could be just as miserable and lonely as I was.

We sat in silence. Primus was counting the money he had with him, and I simply stared at the fire. But the thought of the missing princess continued to plague my mind. I didn't know why.

"Perhaps she's still alive," a persistent thought repeated in my brain over and over. Still alive, still alive… What use it is to me? _I_ am certainly not her! So why does the idea of the king's sister living seem to me so possible?.. Well, no one has actually seen her dead… She can live, even have a family…

A family!

I remembered the Royal Stone reddening in Tristan's hand. Tristan's words "I'm the son of a florist girl from the Market Town"… Of course!

"Your Majesty!" I exclaimed. "If your sister is alive, I think I know where she is!"

"You know? But how?" he was startled.

"She's in the Market Town! And she has a son!"


	8. Captain Shakespeare

**Captain Shakespeare**

"What do you mean?" the king exclaimed. I told him about Tristan.

"Indeed, the Royal Stone of Stormhold is never mistaken…" Primus whispered. "So Una really can still be alive! I think that some minor wizard from the Market Town has enslaved her, that's why we never found out where she is. But – could you rescue her if we found her now?"

"It depends on the strength of that wizard," I said cautiously. "I don't promise anything, but I will certainly try."

"Thanks, Illusia," the king smiled. "So where are we going now?"

"Er… it's your decision, sire. There's my mother, whom we'd better not meet again, there's your troublesome brother, there's the Market Town, and there's your palace."

Primus thought for a while, then said:

"Let's wait for the morning and then go to the palace. There, I'll gather a whole army, and we'll think about the rest. It seems that, since Una has a son, he too needs protection from Septimus."

I realized it too. And poor Tristan didn't even know about his evil uncle!

"Fine," I agreed.

"Good night, then. I'm awfully tired," Primus said. "Murias! Be on your guard!"

The unicorn nodded eagerly. The king put his cape under his head, settled himself between the huge roots of an old oak nearby and went to sleep.

I nestled myself on the grass and closed my eyes. I was exhausted as well, but sleep didn't come. These twenty-four hours had been more eventful than a normal person (even an enchantress like me) can take. Just last evening I was a lonely girl without a friend in the world, constantly beaten and scolded by my own relatives, and now I had become a trusted friend of Primus, the King of Stormhold, and the owner of a devoted courageous unicorn, and also I had saved the lives of two naïve, kind-hearted youths.

If this was all, I would have been happy. But there were Mom, and that Septimus… I knew Mom only too well and wasn't at all eager to cross her path, I didn't know Septimus (except for what I heard about him) and that made me even less eager to cross his.

Yet it seemed unavoidable.

I thought about how to stop Mom and Aunts from killing Yvaine without harming them. It was unlikely that they'd repent or get tired or something like that. But I just couldn't bring myself to hurt my family, whatever they did to me.

The fire was crackling. Murias was walking around the meadow. I wanted to sleep – how I wanted to sleep! – but I couldn't. An hour ago, when Mom almost captured us, I thought I'd fall asleep any moment – and now?

Half of the night passed, when suddenly I heard people shouting. What was strange that the shouting came from _above_!

I rose and looked up. What a sight met my eyes! An enormous ship was descending from the sky to our forest. It looked like it needed reparation: a large part of its keel was missing and the rest looked black and scorched.

"_Caspartine_," I read aloud the ship's name. "Your Majesty! Wake up! Look!"

Primus woke up with a start and raised his head.

"Goodness!" he exclaimed, frustrated. "That's _just_ what we needed in addition to everything else! The _Caspartine_! Captain Shakespeare's famous airborne ship!"

He threw his cape onto the dying flames of our fire and trampled on it. The fire died down completely.

"Quiet now!" his voice faded to a whisper. "Maybe they won't notice us."

"They who?"

"Captain Shakespeare and his men. They are famous at the black market of Stormhold. Catch and sell lightning, I believe. But to ensure their financial stability they also practice piracy. Captain Shakespeare, like his father before him, is a cruel, cunning, fearsome marauder and killer, and his crew is no better. Hush now! It seems that they are going to chop wood to repair the keel."

Primus was right. The ship was now hovering several dozen feet above the ground. A crowd of people was on the deck, chopping the pines.

The ship moved closer and closer to us, until we could see everybody's faces clearly. And I was astonished to discover Tristan and Yvaine among the pirates!

"Look, sire! It seems that Tristan, your nephew, and the star are captured! I think the pirates made them work for that Captain Shakespeare!"

"Oh no," Primus breathed. He, too, spotted the people in question. "I won't be able to fight all the crew!"

I got an idea:

"But perhaps they'll get scared of me! I'll turn one or two into lizards, and they'll quickly give up the captives!"

"No, Illusia! They might have arrows!"

"Arrows are of no use on an airborne ship. It's the only one in Stormhold, right?"

"Yes."

"So they only have swords or something of that kind. Anyway, my magic will frighten them, and, I'm sure, and they won't dare to use weapons!"

"Illusia!" the king whispered, but I've made up my mind. I saddled Murias and rode straight to the _Caspartine_, which was now almost on the level of the ground.

"You cowardly people, let Tristan and Yvaine free at once!" I yelled as soon as I approached it.

The pirates turned to me, startled.

"I'm a powerful witch. I'll turn you all into lizards," I threatened.

"No need for it," a fierce-looking middle-aged man with a grey moustache stepped in front of the crowd. "Let's discuss it, ma'am. I am Captain Shakespeare."

I stepped aboard, leaving Murias on the ground. Tristan and Yvaine rushed to me, but the captain barked:

"Continue working with the keel!"

We walked into his rooms, he carefully closed the door and said, his fierce expression immediately fading:

"You see, ma'am, your friends are my friends too. I just gave them a shelter on the ship. I have never, in my life, spilled a drop of blood – I only did tricks, for example, threw mannequins out of the window instead of real men, to confuse my crew. _They_ are real pirates, I'm afraid. I've never wanted to do piracy. If it wasn't for my father… I'd never take up the family business. I was so glad to find two confidants. Now Tristan is posing as my nephew, and Yvaine as a captive slave which I gave him for his amusement."

"Oh."

It was the hundredth "Oh" I've said for the last two days. The surprises prepared by my fate hadn't ended, obviously.

"But if so, Captain, could you give me and King Primus a lift too? At least to the king's castle!"

"_King_ Primus?" Shakespeare raised an eyebrow. "So the question of succession is solved?"

"Partly, because Prince Septimus is still alive," I explained.

"Well, of course I'll take you to the Mount Huon Castle! Even my pirates will not dare to threaten a king's life. They may be fierce, but they are patriots. But… sorry, who are you, ma'am?"

"Illusia, an enchantress, nothing more," I chuckled faintly.

"Nothing more. That's bad. You'll have to pass either as a slave like Yvaine, whom I'll keep to myself, or as the king's bride. Otherwise, I don't know what will happen. His Majesty, Tristan and I are the only people who can give orders to my crew. But Tristan already has his Yvaine."

"Oh," I said again. I felt terribly awkward.

"Let His Majesty aboard, and discuss it with him," I suggested. Captain Shakespeare said:

"All right! Meanwhile, stay here."

He walked outside, and I heard him shouting orders to the pirates.


	9. The Disguise

**The Disguise**

After what seemed like forever, Tristan and Yvaine rushed into the room.

"Illusia!" Yvaine cried with joy and hugged me. "We were so worried about you!"

"We thought you were killed by your mother!" Tristan added. "And here you come alive and well!"

"And it turns out that Tristan has a real uncle, but it's the king!" Yvaine laughed.

They excitedly told me about landing on the deck of the _Caspartine_ and of Captain Shakespeare arresting them. He pretended to hold them in captivity and then throw Tristan out of a window, while in fact he threw out a human-size doll. After that, Tristan was presented to the crew as the captain's nephew, and everything went smoothly and peacefully.

I spoke of our adventures, and when I was in the midst of describing the unicorn's wild run, Primus and Captain Shakespeare came inside.

"Curse these pirates," Primus said. "I hate to adopt disguises, especially ones like this!"

"Since you're a powerful witch, no one of my crew would believe I was able to capture you," Captain Shakespeare explained to me. "That's why the only way for you to remain safe here is to play the part of His Majesty's fiancée."

I scowled, but indeed we had no choice. The pirates' devotion to the royal family of Stormhold obviously went no further than not harming the royalties themselves. They wouldn't follow any orders, except for Captain Shakespeare's.

"Now I think we all should go to our rooms and rest," Captain Shakespeare said. "Tomorrow, my crew and I will resume repairing the keel."

"By the way, how did it get burnt?" I wanted to know.

"It was the fire ball of the Babylon candle," Tristan said.

"I see," I laughed. "Well, I think I will be able to help you to mend it."

"Thank you, Miss Illusia," Shakespeare's face lit up.

In ten minutes, I was in a spare cabin of the ship. It was small and not a luxurious one, but it was the first room I actually had all to myself. A bed, a small table, a window, two chairs – for me it used to be a wonderful dream.

I fell asleep surprisingly fast, and when the gong woke me up in the morning, I felt refreshed and rested like never before.

I got dressed and went to the deck – Captain Shakespeare said the breakfast would be served there, since the ship wasn't in the air.

Several pirates and the captain himself were already there. They bowed to me respectfully. I was confused until I remembered what my disguise was.

"Good morning, madame. I hope you slept well," Captain Shakespeare spoke.

"Y-yes, I had a good sleep, thank you," I muttered awkwardly. I wasn't used to people bowing to me.

Primus was next to appear on the deck. When he saw me, he smiled:

"Illusia, dear, good morning."

He took my hand and kissed it. I tried to hide my blush. I had never been in any relationship with a man, so I was very vaguely aware of how should a king and his fiancée treat each other in public. The happily-ever-after of my favorite fairytales never told me about that.

"Good morning, Your Ma… Primus," I smiled back. Thankfully, that seemed to be all that was necessary. I was supposed to be a well-bred, good-mannered rich lady, so, despite calling the king his first name and occasionally "my dear", I didn't have to do anything.

I helped the pirates to repair the keel, so the ship rose into the sky in just two hours. We were heading towards the castle, and then I decided that Captain Shakespeare would take me and Tristan to the Wall, so that Tristan would present me to his Victoria and then, if possible, meet his mother in the Market Town.

But as hours and days passed, I thought that Tristan grew less and less anxious about that Victoria. Most of the time he spent with Yvaine, and they grew friendlier almost literally by every minute. If it wasn't for Tristan's fear that his father and everyone else in his village would think him dead, I doubt Tristan would hurry to come back to the human realm so much.

Captain Shakespeare found great pleasure in teaching Tristan sword-fighting and Yvaine dancing and playing the pianoforte. He was a talented tutor: soon I often spotted Yvaine masterly playing duets with him or Tristan defeating him in a swordfight.

As for myself, I had to spend most of my time with my "fiancé" Primus. Our disguise was very fortunate for us: the pirates left us alone almost always (they usually loved listening at the doors).

I had a chance to know Primus better. We talked for hours, standing on the deck. He knew practically every place we passed in our flight, and had numerous stories about these places. I told him everything about the history of magic in Stormhold: the subject I especially excelled in, thanks to Mom.

Once, in the morning of the third day of our journey on the Caspartine, Primus and I were sitting on the deck and observing the silvery Alfiana River flowing below.

"Dear old Alfiana!" Primus smiled nostalgically. "We are now flying above it, so in several hours we'll reach Mount Huon. And then, I understand, you and Tristan are off to the Wall."

"Oh yes, and we'll try to find Una on our way back," I said.

"And after that?"

"Well…" I shrugged. "Tristan, I think, has grown quite fond of Yvaine. I think his father will move to Stormhold, and they all will settle down somewhere near the castle. And I – I – I don't know yet."

"I hope you aren't mad at me yet," Primus chuckled. "Two days you've been playing the role of my fiancée. You must be bored to death with it."

"No, I'm not mad at you," I laughed. "And I'm not bored at all."

Realizing the possibility of various meanings of my words, I turned crimson and hastily continued:

"I mean, eh, I don't have to do anything but call you 'dear Primus' every now and then. One can't get bored with it. And, um, so… it's quite interesting to talk with you. I've never had any close friend before, besides poor Ignita. Oh, look, there is a big ship coming down the Alfiana!"

Primus looked down.

"Oh, yes, a merchant ship from…" he frowned and thought for a while. "Catavarian Islands, I think. Yes, I'm sure of it. The flag looks blue from here, and the Catavarian flag is azure with several silvery stars and a green field."

"What are these Catavarian Islands?" I asked quickly, hoping to distract him completely from the previous subject.

"A group of isles which make one whole kingdom. We are on friendly terms with them. They sell the most amazing mussels and oysters, and also all their silversmiths are pure geniuses. The silver Catavarian jewelry is lovely. When we get to the castle… I mean, when you and Tristan come back and we make sure Septimus won't be a threat, I'll show you our collection of Catavarian silver, if you would wish to."

"Of course I wish to," I said dreamily. "I've only seen jewels (except for magical ones) in the pictures in my books, and often imagined what they would be like in reality."

At that moment, Captain Shakespeare came out of his cabin and called:

"Your Majesty! Milady! We'll soon begin to land, so you'd better go to your cabins and pack your bags!"

"Yes, of course, Captain!" Primus shouted, and he and I went to our respective cabins.

I closed the door of my cabin, packed my few belongings and let out a sigh. Why was the last conversation so awkward? I blushed at the memory of it. I just couldn't have started falling for Primus, could I? I mean, he's about forty-five and not at all the sort of people who are called handsome!

"But you are over four hundred," a part of my brain observed sarcastically.

The ship began to descend. Not willing to miss the moment of the landing itself and to continue the argument with myself, I rushed back to the deck.


	10. Before The Festivities

**Before The Festivities**

The _Caspartine_ made an elegant turn, and the silvery ribbon of the Alfiana rushed towards us. It grew wider and wider, until the opposite banks were barely visible from the middle. The ship half-dived into the water, and a rainbow of sparkling splashes surrounded it.

Captain Shakespeare was standing at the steering-wheel.

"Wasn't it breathtaking?!" he yelled to me. "Dear old Caspartine! She excels in landings!" He stroked the steering wheel like it was a horse.

Mount Huon was right in front of us. It was enormous! Larger than I thought possible! The top of the castle's dungeon was covered with clouds. I stood and gazed at that magnificent view.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Primus said.

"Oh, yes!" Tristan and I answered in unison. Yvaine nodded politely, but as she was a star, heights on Earth didn't astonish her much.

"Come on, now," Captain Shakespeare said. "I don't want anyone to notice my ship. My reputation will be in ruins."

We all said warm goodbyes to the captain, and he gave each of us a magical weapon that could shoot lightning.

"First-quality lightning," the captain said proudly. "For ten thousand bolts of it… old Ferdy at the North Market would have given five hundred guineas… Well, so long then. It was an honor, Your Majesty – Your Highness – Lady Illusia."

The pirates roared and shouted, so they didn't hear Shakespeare warmly wishing all of us the best of luck.

We came ashore, and that instant the _Caspartine_ began rising into the sky. I looked at it, until it disappeared in the clouds. We spent such wonderful days on that ship! For me, they were the first happy days of my life.

Primus was already walking to the outer gates of the castle.

"Your Highness!" the gate guards saluted him.

"Your _Majesty_," Primus corrected dryly and showed them the Royal Stone. The two guards, frightened and amazed, immediately saluted again:

"Long live the King!"

"Now," Primus said. "These three people will be my guests until after I'm officially crowned. Treat them with due respect. This is my nephew, Prince Tristan. This is his companion Lady Yvaine, and this is…" he hesitated. "Lady Illusia."

The men saluted us as well.

"Has my brother Septimus been here recently?" Primus asked.

"No, Your Majesty, not after he went to search for the Stone," one of the guards replied.

"Excellent. Then, I will be crowned tomorrow. I think you might let us in now?"

"Oh, yes, yes, sir."

We entered the seemingly endless dark corridor inside the castle. Four lackeys suddenly, as though magically (or maybe really magically), appeared in front of us, each carrying a torch. They bowed respectfully, and took our bags.

"To the Twentieth Floor guest rooms, sir?" one of them asked Primus.

"No, never in the world," Primus said firmly. "My nephew will have the White Topaz Hall, and Illusia and Yvaine can settle themselves in the Lily-of-the-Valley Room and the Redwood Veranda respectively."

The lackeys just nodded politely and quickly like hares ran away, but I caught the glances on their faces. They were more than amazed.

"What's so dazzling about our rooms?" I asked Primus.

"They are only for the most influential royalty and haven't been used for ages." Primus shrugged. "The White Topaz Hall is well-guarded because it's in my wing of the castle. I should advise you, Tristan, to stay there, in case Septimus makes a sudden attack to get rid of me and you. The Redwood Veranda has a glass roof with a wonderful view of the Milky Way. I think you'd like it, Yvaine. And the Lily-of-the-Valley Room is like a little garden. I guessed you, Illusia, will be very comfortable there. Come, everyone, let's get to the rooms. After we do get there, we'll be exhausted. I can bet."

At first I didn't believe it. Exhausted just from walking around one's living place! Impossible! But Primus turned out to be right. We walked for about two hours and then mounted an enormous stairway. When we started walking, I tried to glimpse now and then at the majestic interior of the castle, but when we were about three hundred stairs high, I already thought of nothing but getting some rest.

Finally, we saw high marble doors with silver letters above them: WHITE WING. THE CHAMBERS OF PRINCE PRIMUS. I saw several silversmiths working near the doors: they were apparently going to replace PRINCE with KING.

Primus took a key ring out of his pocket and opened the doors. We passed through several chambers. They were well-guarded indeed – every door or window and even every hearth had at least three armed men in front of it.

I was nearly dropping down from tiredness. Then, suddenly Primus gestured to two crystal doors. On them LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY ROOM was engraved in flourishing letters.

"Here's your room, Illusia," he smiled. "Tristan, Yvaine – the doors to your chambers are just on the opposite side of the hall."

Indeed, we turned around and noticed a gilded door to REDWOOD VERANDA and a marble entrance to WHITE TOPAZ HALL.

First Primus showed Tristan his room, then Yvaine her veranda, and finally turned to me and handed me a key. It seemed to be made of whitish crystal, but I, being a magician, knew that instant – it was made of lily-of-the-valley fragrance!

"That's the key to your room," Primus said. I opened the crystal doors and walked inside.

Oh, the room was lovely! Its walls were made of sandstones, and decorated with morning glories, lilac, and ivy. The roof was dark blue like the evening sky, and instead of the floor I saw lily-of-the-valley flowerbeds with occasion rosebushes here and there. Somewhere between them, a couch, a table with several chairs, and a pond with a fountain were situated.

"Do you like it?" Primus asked.

"Oh, it's the best room one can think about!" I whispered in awe.

"Wonderful. I've already sent the butler to hire a new maid for you in some village nearby. The maid will be here by tomorrow morning, and she'll bring you breakfast to the room and help you get dressed. My coronation is tomorrow, in case you don't remember."

"I remember," I assured him. "But do I really need a maid? I've managed to do all by myself…"

"Illusia, you'll get lost in the castle by yourself! And, by the way, your outfit for tomorrow's festivities will be difficult to put on without assistance. Have you ever worn a ball gown?"

"Never," I admitted.

"So you don't know what it is like. Also, a maid can help you with the art of ceremonial behavior."

"Fine," I surrendered.

"Goodnight, then," Primus said and closed the door. I smiled:

"Goodnight, thanks again for the room."

I lay on the couch, inhaling the sweet aroma of flowers and the fresh breeze that seemed to be magically designed, and I was so tired that I fell asleep without any more thoughts.

In the morning, I was awakened by a knock on the doors.

"Lady Illusia!" a girl's voice called. "I've brought you the breakfast. May I come in?"

"Oh, of course," I yawned and jumped off the couch. Now I was aware that I had forgotten even to change into my nightgown the evening before.

The door opened, and a pretty blond girl about my age, dressed in a simple woolen dress, came in, carrying a large tray. She set it on the table and curtsied.

"Good morning, ma'am."

"What's your name?"I asked as I started eating a delicious omelet with boiled tomatoes and pork.

"Melina, ma'am," the girl said. I felt awkward, since I've never had a servant:

"Now, why are you standing? Er… I don't… well… see why do you need to stand while I'm sitting."

Melina sat on the edge of the couch.

"Can you tell me anything about the castle and the royal family, Melina?" I continued my inquiries.

"Oh, well, ma'am, I've always lived in Lakeripple, it's a town about twelve miles west. I've never worked here before. But I knew much about the Royals, of course. His Majesty Lirdon, the previous king, was quite a good ruler. I mean, he was good with most of the people of Stormhold – excluding his own family, of course. I don't know if I can say that…" Melina hesitated.

"It's alright. I come from a faraway land and I want to know about the place I live in. I can't ask Primus about his family, so…"

The girl nodded in understanding and resumed her tale:

"King Lirdon was married three times. The first queen was the best one, Queen Silvia was her name. She's the mother of His Majesty Primus. She was very nice and kind to everyone. She was poisoned by Lady Malecasta, a poor courtier anxious to get the throne herself. But the King after the first queen's death married not her, but a simple village girl Acrasia. Actually, my mother came from the same town as her, and she told me that Acrasia was very beautiful and magnetically charming at first sight, but nothing at all more. She gave birth to five children, got tired of them and eloped with some lackey. They were never seen or heard of again. So the King married Lady Malecasta after all, but beheaded her after she refused to give him more heirs.

"But I think seven princes were more than enough. They constantly fought and attempted to kill each other, until – well, I think you know. There are only two left."

I raised my brow:

"Thank you, Melina. But… look, no offense, but you talk like an educated girl! Why?.."

Melina gave a little laugh:

"That's because my parents, thanks to Acrasia's influence – she remembered her old childhood friendship with my mother – were able to send me to a good school. But when Acrasia ran away, all of her protégées were reduced to the positions of simple townspeople."

"And you think King Lirdon was good?!"

"Oh, yes," Melina said honestly. "I'd rather be a maidservant than have to move in the high society! Of course, now, with a really nice King like King Primus, it will be better, but you don't know what it was like when the seven princes were all alive!.."

I preferred not to know and ate my breakfast.


	11. Troubles At The Ball

**The ballroom in this chapter was – well, not copied from but very much inspired by another fantasy movie – can you guess which one? Since I've decided that the favorite color of Primus was white, I just couldn't help but imagine the ballroom that way…**

* * *

**Troubles At The Ball**

"Now I believe it's time for you to get dressed, ma'am," Melina said as she walked towards the door. I haven't noticed it before or maybe it was magically transported here during the night, but there was a wardrobe just by the entrance to the room. Melina opened it and examined the contents.

"Wonderful," she said expertly, with just a tiny hint of envy. "What would you like best – green silk, indigo velvet, white muslin, ecru satin, golden brocade or purple?"

I opened and closed my mouth. Did I have – one, two… _six_ ball gowns at once to choose from? I had never had two dresses at once before! Well… White muslin – too wedding-like. Golden brocade – too pompous, since I'm not a royal. Purple – the same. Indigo velvet – too dark. Ecru satin? What does ecru mean? Is it proper to ask Melina about it? Let the matter rest, who knows, maybe every well-bred girl is supposed to know the word. So…

"Green silk," I picked. Melina smiled and took the said dress out of the wardrobe.

I gasped. It was far more beautiful than I could imagine. It had a wide skirt, puffed sleeves, it was the color of spring grass, with silvery embroidery and tiny pearls adorning it. The sleeves and the hem of the skirt were decorated with lace.

Melina bent down and took something else from the wardrobe. A pair of white stockings, a pair of green gloves, a chrysoprase necklace and dark-green low-heeled shoes. I felt my head spinning.

In fifteen minutes, I was fully dressed, and the maid brushed my hair and lightly moistened it with rose perfume.

"Let's hurry now, ma'am," she urged. "We must not be late. It will take us very long to get to the Great Assembly Hall, where the coronation will take place."

We walked out of the room, and Melina went a bit forward to show me the way.

Suddenly, I spotted a gorgeous strange lady walking by our side. She had flowing golden hair, a creamy skin, grayish eyes, and a confident sunny smile on her face. She was glancing at me too, and an uncomfortable thought appeared in my mind: what if she noticed my clumsy manners and shy behavior? Only when I noticed a pale blond maidservant, an exact copy of Melina, walking in front of the lady, did it dawn on me that I was looking at my reflection in a mirror.

"Anything the matter, ma'am?" Melina asked, noticing my startled look.

"No, no, nothing," I assured her.

So I had changed this much in a few days! Without the constant bullying and pressure, I became so different!

I was still musing about it while we were walking, and the time passed swiftly. Finally, we came to two grand bronze doors, each of them as high as the tallest pine tree. The doors were widely opened, and I saw an enormous hall beyond them. It was like a theatre, only many times bigger. I think that a quarter of Stormhold's population could be gathered there.

Music was playing, people were cheering. I felt awkward again. I, Illusia, the (relation)-slave of three witches, entering the Assembly Hall of Mount Huon!

"Come on, ma'am," Melina whispered. She, too, was trembling from excitement.

Trying to walk as graciously and majestically as I could, I walked inside the Hall. Two heralds were standing on the other side of the doors, they both shouted at once:

"Her Excellency Lady Illusia!"

I walked further, accompanied by Melina. Primus, clad in golden, scarlet and purple, was already sitting on a gold throne, with his coat of arms engraved on the throne's back.

"Good morning, Lady Illusia," he spoke ceremonially. "I'm very pleased to see you at today's glorious celebration. Please take a seat over there, next to Lady Yvaine." The last phrase was said in a quieter tone – Primus knew that without help I would have confused about where to sit.

"It's a great honor, Your Majesty," I curtsied and walked to the row of chairs in a small distance from the throne. Noble women sat there, as I realized.

I sat on a chair between Yvaine and an unknown red-haired woman in her forties. Yvaine smiled to me, and I nodded.

As the preparations for the actual event went on, the red-haired lady whispered to me:

"Are you a new courtier, Lady Illusia?"

"Um… yes, I am," I replied.

"I am Countess Gloria of Lindengrove, born Lady Gloria, the daughter of Admiral Irminad. My husband is Count Tilmoun. He's over there, on the king's right, next to Prince Tristan. You must have heard of me."

"I believe…" I muttered.

"Where do you come from, Your Excellency?"

"Er… from the Darkwave Land."

"Ah! How intriguing! And who can your father and husband be?"

"My father was Earl Edwin of Darkwave," I said. It was only partly a lie – the name and the first half of the title were real. "And I'm unmarried."

Countess Gloria showed her amazement plainly.

"Unmarried? Oh, yes. Now I remember the servants speaking about you having a unicorn."

"That's true, Your Grace."

"And there's another rumor – of you being the sister of Lady Yvaine, the blonde woman on your right."

"No, Your Grace, you're mistaken. I'm only a friend of hers."

"Is she engaged to Prince Tristan?"

"Er… not that I know of…"

"Oh, well. Look, Your Excellency, my son has arrived! My dear Magnus!" the Countess smiled at a young elegant man as he entered the hall.

"Do you know, Your Excellency, that the late King Lirdon himself praised Magnus for his bravery?"

"No, Your Grace! I'm sure you and Count Tilmoun must be very proud of your son."

"Of course we are! We have two daughters as well, Deirdre and Fuamnah, and because of their brother's wealth both got married extremely well. Deirdre – to the Duke of Silverforest, and Fuamnah – to the Minister of Economics! By the way, Your Excellency, do you have diamonds in your dowry?"

My head was aching. I didn't know how to get away from that chatterbox.

"I have no dowry," I said. That phrase turned out to be the salvation for me! Countess Gloria's eyes lost their gleam.

"Oh. Pity. Your father must have been one of the poor earls. The faraway lands never belong to rich people," she shrugged and turned away. I realized with a chuckle that apparently she wanted to set me up with her son. Well, no problem, she had obviously lost interest in me – but that proved I could be mistaken for a born rich lady.

The coronation went wonderfully. When the crown was finally laid on Primus's head, everyone stood up, cheered and applauded. I think the stone walls trembled from the noise. Primus waited for people to calm down, then stood up himself and said:

"My dear subjects, I am very happy with your welcome. I sincerely hope that this is a good start to a good reign. I will try to do my best to rule the great country Stormhold is. I am honored to be the king of it. I promise to be benevolent and helpful towards every single citizen. Thank you."

Another several minutes of cheer followed again. Primus smiled:

"Now, everyone can go to the White Ballroom, where the coronation ball is now beginning!"

People rose from their seats and went to the many exits of the hall.

Yvaine and I walked to Tristan and Primus.

"Let's enjoy ourselves today, and go to the Wall tomorrow at dawn," Tristan suggested. "Victoria's birthday is the day after tomorrow, so we have plenty of time."

"Alright," Yvaine shrugged. "All the same for me. We'll have to go there sometime, now, won't we?"

We walked through the bronze doors, and Tristan offered:

"Yvaine, can I escort you to the ballroom?"

Yvaine shone with pleasure:

"Yes, Tristan, you can."

He took her by the hand, and they slowed down a little – to get a bit away from us, probably.

"Well, since my nephew has a partner for dancing already, may I have the pleasure of escorting you to the ball, Illusia?" Primus asked unexpectedly. I silently thanked poor Ignita who secretly taught me waltz, saraband and minuet.

"Yes," I nodded, blushing. "I know several dances."

The ballroom was, I think, even more magnificent than the Assembly Hall – though it was smaller. It had pure white marble walls with wall-to-wall mirrors and was decorated with some sort of glitter, thin ribbons and crystal chandeliers. The sweet sound of waltz filled the air. I spotted Tristan and Yvaine already dancing.

Primus bowed to me and I curtsied. My cheeks and ears were simply burning, and my heart was beating rapidly. I remembered the yesterday's awkward conversation aboard the Caspartine – no, it's idiotic, I won't think of it… I'm just excited about my first dance – the partner doesn't matter.

I woke up from my thoughts only when I realized than Primus's arm was put around my waist, his free hand was holding mine, and we were in the middle of the dancing crowd.

My head was spinning, and as we passed along the row of elderly people who weren't dancing and watched us I could barely catch parts of their chatter:

"…a new courtier, she herself said to the Countess – a penniless girl from Darkwave…"

"…can behave herself – she's certainly highly born…"

"…how she managed to get the attention of His Majesty!.."

"…she's a friend of that Lady Yvaine, who too is a perfect stranger…"

"…never heard of either in my life…"

Primus seemed to hear some of these remarks as well, because he quietly said:

"Pay no attention to these old gossips. Every new person in the court provokes such rumors, most of them utterly foolish."

He walked me away from that part of the ballroom, so I never again could hear the gossips.

The next dance was polonaise, which I skipped. Tristan, too, was tired and took a break, Primus asked some young rich lady, and Yvaine danced with the already known to me Count Magnus.

The ball was amazing. I danced one more round of waltz, the minuet and two rounds of saraband with Primus, and one round of saraband with Tristan. My ultimate embarrassment didn't fade, but I was so flustered after several dances I could easily hide it. Yvaine was shining brighter than ever, and it seemed that my mother and aunts and Septimus with his soldiers were just a bad dream.

Unfortunately, we had to come back to reality. About an hour after the ball ended, at ten o'clock in the evening, the four of us, along with Melina and several other servants, were having supper in a small living room, when a gasping lackey rushed inside.

"Sorry, Your Majesty!" he cried. "But it's urgent! Your brother Prince Septimus… he's here!"

"What do you mean – here?!" Primus exclaimed, nearly knocking down his wine as he rose.

"He's trying to get through the main gates! He… he knocked down the guards, I don't know if they're alive or dead…"

The maids shrieked in fright. Yvaine clung to Tristan, forgetting all propriety. Tristan wasn't looking very self-assured either.

"Very like Septimus," Primus said through gritted teeth. "I should have known. But what could I do?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The coronation ball! Almost everyone has drunk a good deal of wine, I'm practically helpless! But again, what could I do? Forbid poor people to drink? It was a celebration, after all!"

I thought quickly and said:

"Well, because of the runes I can't confront Septimus, but I can do lot of things to – well, bother him. Now, I think we must lock everything up, give the alarm to the guards – the ones who are a bit sober at least – and wait readily."

"Have you heard the lady?" Primus snapped at the lackey. "Tell the guards to lock every door in the main corridor and go to this room – _quickly_!"

"Yes, sir!"

And the lackey rushed away.


	12. Melina Hides The Stone

**Melina Hides the Stone**

Primus's soldiers ran to us – unfortunately, most of them had foggy eyes, stupid uncertain smiles, and strongly smelled of wine. Soon, various menservants joined them – everyone picked things which could be used as weapons: kitchen knives, stools, metal clocks, or iron axes and shovels.

"Thank you," Primus said gratefully as he took his ready sword.

"Now," I said. "I believe the locked doors won't stop Septimus – he can force locks with his sword, at the worst. But the locks will still bother him, and I'll prepare something else…"

I took my dear old oak branch from my pocket and borrowed a knife from one of the cooks. I cut the branch and found out that Septimus and his men were currently in the twentieth sector of the Main Corridor. Now I had to do something to them without causing _very_ much mess in the castle.

I asked to be given a pocket mirror, whispered some magical words to it to be able to watch our invaders, and sent the aeris spell to the corridor.

The mirror's reflection rippled, and we all saw Septimus and his group, breaking a lock on some door. Suddenly, a golden sparkle hovered down to them and turned into a yellowish whooshing tornado. It picked up everyone but Septimus (oh, why hadn't Mom given me powers to break the runes' spells!) and carried them away from the window at an enormous speed.

Primus and the rest of us applauded.

Septimus was enraged, but obviously not caring about his companions' fate. He continued working with the door.

As he opened it, I immediately fired my favorite aqua spell in there. A glowing golden water stream appeared out of nowhere in front of Septimus, and he was simply washed down the corridor, to our great amusement.

When Septimus got up and walked a little, I sent another aqua spell to him. But this time, he was prepared. As soon as he noticed the golden sparkles floating down, he breathed in deep and clenched at some heavy marble statue. The cascade of water did him no harm – he was already soaking wet.

Suddenly, I noticed something small and white on the corridor's wet floor. I frowned, focusing my eyesight on the thing – and realized it was a rune stone!

"The runes!" I cried. "Without them, he's helpless! I'll try to wash the rest of them away!"

Unfortunately, Septimus thought as quickly as I did. I saw him hurrying to the tiny stone, though, not forgetting to hold on to heavy things like statues or tables. I fired a third aqua spell, and it washed the rune away. The prince cursed and stomped his feet. I saw his hand clenching a small woolen packet that obviously contained the rest of the runes.

"Ma'am," Melina said unexpectedly. "I dare say that we should hide the Royal Stone safely, in case His Highness somehow makes it to this room."

"What?!" Primus exclaimed. "I won't give away the Stone!"

"Well, the girl's talking about hiding it, not giving it away!" Tristan argued.

"That's true, the Stone should be very safe when Septimus is nearby," I agreed. "Melina, what is your plan?"

"Can I demonstrate?" the maid asked. Primus reluctantly gave the permission and took off the Stone. As he handed it to Melina, it faded from scarlet to whitish again.

"Now, everyone, close your eyes and count to three," Melina said with a sly smirk. I closed my eyes and did what she said. I heard no footsteps or any noise.

When we opened our eyes, the Stone was nowhere to be seen. Melina was standing in the same place where she was.

"How?" Primus uttered finally, after a moment of dazzled silence. "If you threw it…"

"Oh no," Melina chuckled. "It's perfectly safe in here."

I couldn't understand. She was wearing a simple dress, with no pockets and a narrow skirt. Her shoes were small and leather – there was no place to hide the Stone in them, and, anyway, when she walked it would be noticeable that she had something in her shoe… I heard nothing during those three seconds – Melina was in the middle of the room, she would have had to take at least one step to get close to any item of furniture.

"Well, where is it?" some lackey demanded.

"I won't tell you," Melina said. "His Highness can blackmail or torture you to say the truth about the Stone, and you might surrender."

"Tell just us – me, Illusia, Tristan, and Yvaine," Primus ordered. Melina nodded and asked for a small piece of paper and a pencil. She wrote a small note, and the four of us gathered around her to read it. It said:

IN MY HAIR

I gaped at it. Then looked at Melina's hair. In the morning it was loose, but during the ball she tied it with a green ribbon into a large tight knot on her head. The Stone could easily be stuffed inside that knot.

Melina snatched the paper from me and tore it into pieces, which she threw into the fireplace.

"Melina, you're a genius," I said.

"That's very clever of you," Primus said.

"I just hope Septimus doesn't find out," Yvaine mumbled gloomily. After the ball, she grew moodier – I think it was because of Tristan's planned trip to Wall and to Victoria Forester.

But the name of Septimus reminded me of my pocket mirror. I glanced into it. While we were hiding the Stone, the prince managed to get very far. He was running to our room up the backstairs.

"He's planning to trick us and enter through the back door!" I smiled. "Well, let's greet him, then."

All men who were able to think clearly were to go with Primus, Tristan and me to confront Septimus. Neither I, Tristan, nor Primus wanted to kill the prince, especially on the coronation day. But the soldiers and the servants were to snatch the runes away, and after that, I would turn the evil prince into some animal. Then of all the dangers we would have only my family left to deal with.

The maidservants and those who were too drunk were left in the room – under the observation of Yvaine and Melina.

Primus opened the back door, and our group came out. The dark spiral stairway with moss-covered walls was seldom used even by servants.

"It leads to the Gloomy Cellar, a prison of the worst kind," Primus whispered. "Used to be a wine cellar – millennia ago, but then… All right, I'll tell you the story later. Now quiet!"

The three of us leaders hurried down, myself far ahead. I knew it wasn't safe – without the ability to break the runes' spell, I was helpless, but I so much wanted to see the look on Septimus's face when he sees us!

Only after ten minutes of running, I realized something was wrong. Our room wasn't very high, so the stairway couldn't be this long! I should have had encountered Septimus long ago.

I ran a few dozen stairs down and saw an opened door which Septimus was entering when I saw him through my mirror.

"Primus! Tristan! GO UPSTAIRS! HE TRICKED US!" I yelled.

"airs… he… us…" the echo responded. I also heard shouting and cries above me.

I turned around on my heel to run back, when suddenly my foot glided abruptly, and I fell down – into the black abysmal stair-well. I tried to clutch on the stairs, but my fingers slipped away. The stairs were deliberately poured upon with wine and oil.

I fell down, screaming as the complete darkness enveloped me.


	13. Inside The Gloomy Cellar

**Inside The Gloomy Cellar**

While I was falling, I had enough conscience to send an aqua spell ahead of me, so that I would fall into water. It wouldn't be pleasant – especially since I was in a puffy ball gown – but it would be much better than crashing to death on the presumably stone cellar floor.

Finally, I landed with a loud splash. The water slowly went away, and at last I felt the firm stones beneath my feet.

I looked around. I was standing in a small room with glow-worms creeping up the walls and giving some dim greenish light. There were several large dark cylinders in the corners. I thought these were stones, but as I cautiously walked closer, I saw they were moss-covered wine barrels.

Above my head, the spiral stairway ended abruptly. It must have crashed (or _been_ crashed) some time ago, but the remains of the crash were obviously washed away by my water.

I felt dreadful. I was soaking wet, my clothes grew heavy, it was dark and cold, and the glow-worms only made the cellar look more scary.

"Hello?" I squeaked. "Is anyone here?"

I hoped that what Primus had told me was just a legend, that this was just a simple old wine cellar… But the only response that came to me was an echo.

"All right, let's try to explore the cellar and find a way out," I announced, feeling a bit silly. The echo repeated my words again, but the sound of my own voice comforted me little.

What worried me most was the fate of Primus, Tristan, Yvaine, and Melina, as well of the servants. What chaos could Septimus cause up there? What if he found the Stone and killed Melina… and Primus too!

I sat on the floor and wept. I was alone – more alone than before I ran from my family – I was cold, and tired, and I let everybody down. It was me who was first deceived by Septimus's plan, after all!

After a few minutes, though, my sensible self began to recover. It reminded me that I would do no one any good by sitting in this cellar and crying. I had to find a way out! There must have been another one, besides the broken staircase!

I stood up, trying to ignore the cold, and walked under a small stone arch that led into another room. That one had seven gigantic iron trunks in it – of course, every inch of the metal was bright reddish brown with rust.

"I wonder how long this cellar had been abandoned," I said aloud. The locks of the trunks used to be huge and heavy, but now every one of them was crushed to rusty dust with one light touch. I opened the first trunk. It contained shining diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The second was full of gold and silver coins. The third trunk hid copperware. The fourth – armors, shields, and swords. The fifth – something that probably used to be expensive silk and brocade, but now was dark and half-eaten by moths. The sixth trunk contained smelly remains of putrid wood, with some primitive underground termites busily and methodically destroying them.

"Maybe the seventh one is empty or used to contain, say, food or cheap wooden things or servants' possessions," I guessed and opened the last trunk.

It was all empty, except for a pile of yellowish scraps – a former book, perhaps. The only scrap larger than my little finger's nail had only several words written on it: _Rubianne was thrown_.

I didn't know at all who (or what?) that Rubianne was. So I shrugged and walked to another door. It was made of solid bronze and had a big key stuck in it. The key turned easily.

I walked through and found another bronze door – that one simply opened itself in front of me. Then there was another, and another… seven doors in total.

After passing through the last one, I found myself in a small room with a torch on the wall, a table and a carpet on the floor. An incredibly old woman was sitting on that carpet, her eyes lighting up with pleasant malicious surprise as I entered. Her hair was white as the snow, her wrinkled face resembled a nut, and her skin was brown. When she was standing, she was bending over so that her sharp chin nearly touched the floor.

"Hello, dear, my name's Rubianne, Princess of Stormhold," the woman said in a crackling voice.

"Princess? Of Stormhold?" I exclaimed. "But… King Lirdon had only one daughter…"

"Lirdon! Ha!" she laughed. "His great ancestor, King Hurricane, the second King of Stormhold, was my brother. I was the eldest child of King Storm – the founder of this castle and the one who united many tribes in one kingdom. I learned magic and became the mightiest witch in the world – so that sorry excuse for a brother got frightened to death and threw me in here! He would have never caught me, had he not bribed my _dear_ tutor – Wizard Nocturnus. But, thankfully, they were unable to put an unbreakable lock on these doors! So they said that the doors can only be opened from outside and only when a star falls on Earth and another star rises on Earth.

"By the way, thanks, dear, for releasing me. You're lucky you're not late – I vowed that if I would not be freed until tomorrow dawn, I would kill the person who opens the doors. Now, I will spare your life."

I was mortified. So I unknowingly released an extremely powerful and ancient enchantress! And… yes, it was obviously my fault the spell on the doors was broken. A star rises on Earth – Illusia, a half-blooded star, rose from an unknown slave to a king's trusted companion in several days.

"W-what are you planning to do now, Your Highness?" I stammered.

"I'll try to find the Royal Stone," she snarled. "I can't become a queen – that dreaded Stone can only be handled by men. But when I find it and do some changes here and there…"

Her eyes again gleamed dangerously.

"I'll go to Darkwave for now," Rubianne once more switched to a very civil and pleasant tone. "There is a nice canyon there – I'll settle in the canyon for now."

"No, please!" I cried. Aunt Mormo and Aunt Empusa were living in the canyon… I couldn't, I just couldn't calmly let this witch attack them…

"Who are you? Only sorcerers and village idiots live in a place like Darkwave, and you don't look like an idiot."

"I'm Illusia, an enchantress. My mother's Lamia."

"Lamia? Lamia? Who were her parents?"

"Ailil and Morvanneg, I believe."

"And their parents?"

I wondered why she was asking all this…

"Er… I think… Ailil's mother… yes, his mother was named Kliodhna the Lady of Sea Waves."

"Kliodhna!" Rubianne's eyes grew wide. "When I was locked up here, Kliodhna was an adorable little toddler girl who could hardly walk and spoke a dozen words. And how old are you, Kliodhna's great-granddaughter?"

"I was born two hundred and twenty years ago," I explained.

"I lost millennia, eons, ages in here!" the witch growled in fury. "The world will pay for this!"

And she disappeared. Faded into thin air.

I again collapsed on the floor, sobbing. I ruined everything! If it were just Septimus's tricks, I would have been responsible for Primus's and Tristan's lives – and, certainly, for some unfortunate lives. But now I seemed to have ruined the fate of the world!

I cried and cried and cried. What was I to do? There were no other doors in this cellar. I was stuck here – stuck… Rubianne hadn't locked the seven bronze doors – but she didn't need to. There was no way out of here. I am not as powerful as here, so I'll die from starvation, since the only edible things here were the creepy termites and moths in the trunks.

So I'll slowly die – while this cruel Rubianne takes over the world… I'll never see anyone – Primus, Tristan, Yvaine, Captain Shakespeare, Murias…

I don't know how many hours had passed before I suddenly heard a very familiar voice:

"Illusia! Is it really you?"

My mother, old and wrinkled, was standing in front of me. But when I thought I was alone forever, I was happy to see even her.

"Mommy!" I exclaimed. I hadn't called her that since I was three. I hugged her and began to cry again:

"Rubianne… I freed her… I didn't know she was here… I wanted to find a staircase… the stone one over there was broken… I had no idea… Oh, what can I do?"

Surprisingly, Mom cried as well.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "We should have told you. But I didn't think Rubianne was even alive. She… she turned up in our house completely out of the blue and killed Mormo and Empusa – they barely had the time to call me… I had to broker a trade with _Ditchwater Sal_ no less – gave her my runes and my carriage with the goats to get a set of candles… I got here to check if that witch was truly Rubianne…"

My aunts – dead? I couldn't believe my ears. They had everlasting lives – they couldn't die!

"I've always wanted them dead," Mom sighed. "I never wished to share the star's hearts… But now they are killed – and I'm so lonely!"

"No, I'll help you now – if you promise not to hurt Yvaine, the star!" I said.

"The star?! Goodness, Illusia, what is youth when the whole world is on the brink of collapsing under Rubianne's reign? I don't care if a thousand stars land here now – we must think of Rubianne!"

"Alright, then I'll help you," I smiled comfortingly. Mom hugged me again, crying.

She told me how Princess Rubianne, for achieving great mightiness and at the same time ultimate cruelty, was cursed by King Storm and Wizard Nocturnus. How Wizard Nocturnus tried to break Rubianne's safety spells and discovered her spells were unbreakable. How, with much cunningness, Nocturnus and Rubianne's siblings Prince Hurricane and Princess Moonlight fed the witch with sleeping draughts and threw her into the Gloomy Cellar, which was abandoned after that.

"Now that Rubianne has escaped," she concluded, "she will continue her old plans of ruling Stormhold and then all existing realms… And you say she also wants revenge. I doubt everyone will like her as an empress. Oh no. With Rubianne around, I'll be on your side, dear daughter."

"So what do we do now?" I asked, shuddering. I was more scared than ever.

"Let's use the Babylon candle to get upstairs."

Fortunately, a torch was on the wall, so Mom held my hand and lit one of her candles. We both thought of the Throne Room of the castle.


	14. The Council

**The Council**

The Throne Room was brightly lit and warm – such a contrast to the horrible Gloomy Cellar! The change of environment suddenly boosted my confidence and optimism.

Primus was sitting on the throne, with Tristan on his right and the Count of Lindengrove on his left. Tristan was clutching Yvaine's hand. Yvaine was trembling and very pale, her hair lost all its lustre – it was almost gray. I noticed a fresh bandage on her shoulder.

Several trusted members of the court and also the General and the Admiral were standing nearby, talking quietly. The servants and the soldiers stood at the doors, frightened and confused.

Primus saw me and gave an exclamation of relief:

"Illusia, thank goodness! We lost all hope! How did you survive?"

"Oh, I don't know how!" I slightly smiled. "Perhaps Rubianne decided to pardon me because I opened the doors that held her in the cellar. But… I'm forgetting… Here is my mother Lamia, she is going to help us _now_."

We walked to the throne. Mom curtsied (with some difficulty because of her age), and I asked Yvaine:

"What happened to you?"

Yvaine glanced worriedly at my mother, as the latter began to discuss Rubianne's powers with the Count of Lindengrove.

"Don't worry, Mom _is_ going to help," I assured her. "She's now anxious about saving her life, not preserving youth and beauty."

"Well," Yvaine sighed, "I don't know how I have escaped. Septimus broke into the room yelling and waving his sword – several maids fainted from the instant shock. It was totally unexpected! If he entered through the back door – we would have been terrified that he killed you all, but still we were considering it a possibility! He began to throw furniture, ornaments and tableware at the men – all of them were still stupefied and collapsed like ninepins! No one moved a finger! The maids and I screamed and hid under the table. Septimus raised his sword and asked 'Where's the Stone? I know someone here knows its location.' No one replied, so he pulled a random servant girl from under the table and threatened to kill her if she doesn't hand the Stone this moment. Melina cried and got out of her hiding place herself. She said 'I know where the Stone is.' Septimus threw his previous captive away and dragged Melina out of the room, demanding to show him the Stone. The maids began to treat the unconscious soldiers and lackeys, and I ran for help…"

"And how were you wounded?"

"One of the porcelain vases hit me."

"Yvaine met us when we were already running back upstairs. We searched for you, Illusia, and guessed you were killed when falling. So we had no choice but to return," Tristan continued the tale. "When we gathered a council in the Throne Room, Rubianne appeared and declared she would find the Stone and be Queen very soon, then she vanished again. Primus told us who she was… and right now we are trying to decide what to do."

I felt desperation and panic welling up in my heart again. So Melina was taken by Septimus! No doubt he'll kill her – and I grew very fond of the girl… And we were to fight against the powerful Rubianne, who can kill all of us on the spot at once.

"So, what are we going to do?" Tristan wondered aloud.

"Illusia, can you tell us exactly how mighty is Rubianne?" Primus asked.

"Illusia doesn't know – we never told her," Mom explained. "The worst about Rubianne is that her spells and curses are unbreakable – if she doesn't allow such a possibility herself, and she usually doesn't. Also, she can't be killed."

"What?" almost everyone cried in unison.

"Her first safety spell says: 'Only he can kill me who possesses a heart of neither a human, a fae creature, an animal, an alien, or a star'. She wanted to put it as 'No living thing can kill me', but the magical laws wouldn't allow it. The second is: 'Nothing from the inanimate world and no infection can kill me'. And the third goes: 'No spell or curse can kill me'."

"What can we do if we overpower her somehow, then?" the General exclaimed.

Primus interrupted:

"If we do overpower her, we must imprison her again. There appears to be no other choice."

"The only way to win this battle is to turn Rubianne's spells against herself," Mom concluded bitterly. "And to do this, we need to spy on her and find a suitable spell."

"Very nice," Yvaine commented.

"I believe we also must retrieve the Royal Stone," Primus added. "I see that you, Lady Lamia, have a set of Babylon candles. One of us can go to Septimus's hiding place, wherever it is, and save Melina's life and the Stone."

"I'll go," I said.

"Illusia, don't you think it's too risky?"

"Not at all. I can pose as an anonymous servant. Remember, Septimus doesn't know me – by sight, at least."

"There is no need for posing as a servant," Mom said. "It just so happens that there is a place where we can flee and be relatively safe from Rubianne for a while, and from this place we can acquire a magical potion of invisibility."

"What is it?" one of the courtiers wanted to know.

"The Moonlight River," Mom announced. Seeing our confused expressions, she explained further details:

"It's basically another realm – but with a bit of magic, we can enter it easily. It is visible to us sometimes – as the reflection of moonlight in the water. It looks like a shining silvery path. If an item of clothing – say, a hat – is washed in the River, it brings invisibility to the person who wears it.

"Also, the Silvery Hill on the bank of this river is the safe haven I mentioned. We can go there, and attack Rubianne from there. It will take a long time for her to track us down."

"But we must save Melina now! We can't wait for the full moon to appear…" I began.

"Illusia, don't you realize I can bring you all to the Moonlight River bank right now?" Mom raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go then! What are we waiting for?" people around us began to say.

"Wait a minute," Yvaine said. "Is that world safe for stars?"

"Yes, of course, it's the _Moonlight_ River!" Mom chuckled.

"I don't trust you," the star said straightly.

"Dear girl, even if I were planning to cut your heart out now, I wouldn't have taken you to the world that would turn you into a meteorite. Hasn't it occurred to you that meteorite has no heart?"

"Stop quarrelling now," Primus commanded. "Lady Lamia, take us to the Moonlight River now. We'll continue planning and discussing there."

Mom raised her hand, but then hesitated:

"Er… I fear that the Silvery Hill is too small for everyone in this palace. It has the space for, say, fifteen people."

"And what about the rest of the river bank?" Primus inquired.

"Oh, settling on the rest of the bank will produce various magical side effects."

"Alright," Primus sighed. "I doubt Rubianne will kill servants and soldiers and plain villagers. It's of no use for her. Therefore, the fourteen of us now in the throne room will go to the Silvery Hill. To the rest of you: go to your homes and remain there quietly. If Rubianne declares herself queen, just be patient. We will defeat her, some way or other!"

His little speech encouraged the people a bit.

"Well, fine, get ready," Mom said.

She raised her hands, green glow spread from her, and suddenly our council was swirled in some silvery fog. When the fog faded, I felt the tingling of another universe.

We were standing on a small hill covered with greenish gray grass and strange big glassy flowers. Green sparkling mist covered whatever was below, except for a wide silvery river lazily flowing from the northern horizon to the south-western one. The sky was dark violet with odd blue stars forming unknown constellations. The soft breeze blew from the River.

"Welcome to the Silvery Hill," Mom said. A streak of nostalgia was in her voice as she said:

"I've only been here once – ages ago, with my mother, Ignita, and Ignita's parents… I was a child of twelve then…"

We sat on the grass. It was thankfully warm too, like a good carpet. I suddenly felt so sleepy… Tristan was yawning, and Yvaine (who had by now adjusted to being awake during the day) was barely keeping her eyes open.

Primus noticed all that.

"I believe we won't do anything good at present," he said. "We're all exhausted, and will only mess things up. Let us rest, and at dawn – if there is dawn in this world – we'll think of our plans."


	15. Invisible Illusia

**Invisible Illusia**

Just as usual, when I was scared and worried, I couldn't sleep. I lay on the warm grass and watched the violet sky, thinking of the chaos I evoked in Stormhold by freeing Rubianne. I thought of everyone left there – Melina, other servants, Murias, the crew of the Caspartine… What was Rubianne going to do with them?

And how safe were we now? What if she found us?

My imagination showed me horrendous pictures of Rubianne becoming Queen and unleashing awful tortures on the Faerie realm, then on the human world, then on the rest of the worlds…

As I was plagued by such thoughts, the violet sky lightened a little. The azure stars faded, and a bright rosy light spread above. No sun rose, though. I saw only the rosy sky, golden and bluish clouds, and one big star that didn't fade – it only changed from blue to alabaster white.

"That was my best friend among my sisters," Yvaine, who was watching the dawn too, sighed. "Wabun Annung – the Morning Star. I'd know her anywhere."

So at least some stars could see various realms! That was curious.

As the sky brightened more, the rest of us got up. The grass turned out to be edible – it tasted like sugared salad; so we ate a little, and Mom said:

"So, Illusia, if you still want to steal the Royal Stone and save Melina, let's go and take some water from the river."

"Wait a minute!" Primus interrupted. "You said yesterday that it's not safe to leave the Silvery Hill!"

"Two enchantresses like us with a good protective spell can go to the river for ten minutes or so," Mom explained. "No need to worry."

So she surrounded the two of us with a protective bubble, and we walked down the hill, into the green mist.

The mist turned out to be not as thick as I thought. I saw through it clearly. When we left the hill, I saw the land was covered with a sort of thick yellow moss with strange red mushrooms sticking out of that. Pixies, the well-known to me Wee Folk, were sitting on the mushrooms, throwing small stones at us (they bounced away from the bubble) and singing verses such as:

_It's a quarter of the moon._

_Rubianne will catch you soon._

_And before the moon grow old,_

_You may all be dead and cold!_

_Seek, young ladies, and you'll find –_

_One of you will soon go blind! _

_To the river go straight down,_

_Fish out the Stormhold crown._

These verses and their piercing laughter were so eerie altogether! I trembled.

"Now, Illusia, pay no attention!" Mom smiled. "Don't you remember what we told you about the Wee Folk? They're just trying to confuse you. They may tell the truth every now and then, but they are mixing it with a whole compote of lies. Don't worry."

Unfortunately, she spoke a bit too loudly. The pixies heard her, laughed even harder and somehow managed to sing in their hysterical laughter:

_Illusia-Delusia,_

_Don't believe illusions!_

_You'll believe what you see,_

_But it's not what it seems!_

_Invisible Illusia –_

_Do not get delusions!_

_You'll believe what you hear,_

_But it won't be so clear!_

"Illusia, don't listen to this gobbledygook, please," Mom whispered. "Here's the river, wash the hem of your dress in the water and let's get back to the Silvery Hill quickly."

I carefully walked to the shining white stream and put the hem of my gown into it. There was a strange vibrating sensation, and then, suddenly, I saw my body getting limpid, as if it was made of crystal. Then it vanished out of my sight completely!

It wasn't a very pleasant thing. I couldn't even see my nose and eyelashes, let alone my hands, shoulders and everything else. What was worse, when I closed my eyes, I still saw everything around me!

"Be careful," Mom warned. "See this?"

She pulled my hair, and a lock was torn off. As soon as it was in her hand, it was visible!

"The same with the dress, the shoes etc.", Mom said. "So, I repeat, be very careful."

"Of course," I assured her. "And how does the whole of me become visible again?"

"Why, naturally, by putting the dress in the river once more."

We hurried back to the hill. As we got there, everyone stared at us – or at Mom, better to say.

"Where's Illusia?" Primus demanded.

"I'm here," I spoke. "I'm invisible."

I had to pick grass and shake hands with Yvaine to prove that I'm not a mirage. When everybody was convinced Mom didn't harm me, Mom said:

"Now you'll go to the place where Melina is. I repeat, where _Melina_ is – judging by what you told me about the girl, she's smart, she might have already fled from Septimus's captivity. Your task is to find out where the Stone is, take it (if possible) and Melina with you here. I'll show you the transferring spell that will move you from this world to ours."

She quickly explained to me the techniques of the spell, and I announced:

"Well, then! I'm going!"

Everyone wished me good luck, Primus, Yvaine, and Mom told me several times to be careful, and I took Mom's Babylon candles and launched the spell.

I found myself in the deserted Throne Room – deserted, apparently, as well as the whole Mount Huon. It gave me the shudders to think of that gigantic castle empty… except for me…

I used a torch to light one of my precious candles and concentrated on Melina.

The sensation of being carried away by the fire ball didn't amaze me this time. Perhaps I was used to it. Perhaps I was too lost in thoughts to pay attention to it.

In several moments, the fire died down. I blinked and looked around.

I was standing in a dark room, probably a pantry or a cellar. Large sacks of potatoes and flour and wine barrels were on the floor, and garlands of garlic bulbs and dried mushrooms were hanging from the ceiling. Several small candles were giving all the light the room hand.

Melina, bruised, beaten, dressed in an old shabby robe, was sitting on one of the sacks.

"Melina!" I called. She jumped and looked around:

"Lady Illusia? Is it your voice I hear? Where are you?"

"Here. I'm invisible." I took off my necklace and tore several of my hairs to prove I was real.

"Oh…" Melina whispered. "How would I know you're not an apparition sent by Rubianne?"

"Now, Melina, if Rubianne could send apparitions, she could have just as easily conquered the world without having to be freed from the Gloomy Cellar. Also, why would she need to send one to you? And, by the way, how do you know about Rubianne?"

"Septimus told me," Melina said. "When I said I'd never give him the Stone, he yelled 'If you give me the Stone, I'll spare your miserable life! But if you're saving the Stone for Rubianne, don't except such generosity from her!' Then he noticed I didn't know who Rubianne was, so he – ahem, briefly and loudly explained."

"Oh, poor girl! How could you suffer from all that? Come on, now, I'll take you and the Stone to our hiding place which is in another world…"

"No," Melina said unexpectedly.

"W-what?" I stammered. "But you'll die here!"

"Listen, ma'am," Melina spoke. "If the Stone disappears from this world, it will alarm Rubianne, and she will search another worlds and find your hiding-place – with you still unprepared for confronting her. The best way to hide something is to hide under one's very nose, you know. The Stone can't be left here, just lying in Septimus's summer palace. I'll guard it."

But I saw the girl was struggling with herself to make the decision. Tears were involuntarily springing from her solemn eyes.

"Melina, I see it's very hard for you to be here. I insist you must go."

"No. I had to change the hiding place… the Stone is now stuffed inside one of the garlic bulbs. I need to watch over it. Oh, but… Illusia, could you turn me into a lizard of some kind? That would indeed be the safest way."

"What is going on, Melina?" I cried. Her fists clenched:

"I fear Septimus has taken a liking in me. I'm so terrified! I'm afraid of staying – afraid of bringing the Stone to another world… afraid of all! But if you turn me into a small animal, I'll stay here and watch the Stone, completely safe! Well, almost completely…"

She froze. I snatched my necklace from her and hurried to the corner. Footsteps approached the door, and it burst open to reveal a furious Prince Septimus, with his sword drawn.

"Who were you talking to?" he hissed.


	16. A Very Strange Questioning

**A Very Strange Questioning**

Melina blanched, but forced a smile and replied lightly:

"To Selina."

"Who, may I ask, is Selina?" Septimus asked in a dangerously calm voice, his sword moving to her throat.

"She is a very nice girl. She will help me to run away. She is right here," Melina explained, her eyes opened wildly and gazing at her captor with naivety. I bit my lip. Either she was going crazy or she was a terribly good actress.

"If you don't tell me the truth, I will rip you to pieces," the prince said through gritted teeth. "Who? Were? You? Talking to?"

His blade was now a millimeter away from her skin… Suddenly, Melina's whole expression changed. Her eyes narrowed, her brows furrowed, and her lips that were opened with fright became a tight line. The girl jumped away from Septimus, snatched a stone that was lying on the lid of one of the barrels and chuckled:

"Well, the fearsome prince himself. Just take a step ahead and the stone will be thrown at you."

I was stunned. So was Septimus – though he, of course, tried to hide it.

"Who are you?" he asked, attempting not to stutter.

"My name is Selina," the girl snapped. "I was born here. This stupid fool Melina can't take care of her body, so the body needed a new mind."

"Do you know where the Royal Stone is?" the prince wanted to know, his tone almost polite.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Melina (or Selina?) laughed. "I will not say to you where it is until I have fifty thousand gold stormguldens in my possession."

"Now, Melina or Selina or whoever you are, you are not allowed to talk like this to me!"

Septimus jumped to her, his sword raised, and instantly the girl threw her stone at him. It narrowly missed his head and crashed onto the floor. Shocked by the loud crash, the girl stood still for a moment, and Septimus took no time in punching her in the face.

She collapsed onto the floor. The monster just calmly stood and waited for her to regain her consciousness. I quietly sent a healing spell.

The poor girl opened her eyes and groaned:

"Oh… where am I… what happened?"

"You throw anything at me again, you miserable rat, and I'll cut your arm off," Septimus threatened.

"I? Throw?"

Tears welled in Melina's eyes:

"Sir, I can never bring myself to harm anyone!" she cried.

The prince thought for a while, then seemed to make up his mind:

"Sit here. I'll come in an hour, and I hope you'll remember where the Stone is by that time. Oh, and if you talk to that Selina of yours again, I'll feed _both_ of you with sulfur."

He left in anger, banging the door loudly. Until his footsteps quieted, Melina was silent. Then, she sighed with relief and called me:

"Illusia, ma'am! Are you still here?"

"Yes," I came out of my hiding place. "Melina… what was this?"

"This," Melina said proudly, "is my invention! I am playing the part of a woman with multiple personalities. This was my first practice in front of Septimus. Did you like Selina?"

"She doesn't exist?" I asked for safety – I was too confused.

"Of course not! I made her up. She is an elfin warrior, Selina the Fierce. She is fearless and cunning and controlling and hates me, though pretends to like me."

"Oh, Melina, are you sure you won't go genuinely mad with these disguises?"

"What's the risk?" the girl's momentary bravado faded. "I'm telling you, ma'am – I'm scared. Septimus has already dropped hints like 'such a beauty being wasted', and sometimes… the look in his eyes when he's questioning me… Oh! I wish, I really do wish he'd be furious at me and kill me!"

"Melina, now I've decided. You're going with me to the Silvery Hill."

"No. I'm sorry, Illusia, ma'am – but no. It is less dangerous. At most, I will suffer – but the rest of you will not. Or – oh, I forgot, I had the idea – can you turn me into an animal after all?"

I couldn't have a chance to answer, before the door opened wide to reveal Septimus and several armed soldiers. They had obviously been listening at the door since Septimus left the cellar. I shrieked in fright. One of the soldiers ran to Melina and put two stones into her pocket. I knew them well. These were the runes. The runes with the protective spell. Half of them. The other half was presumably

The group took out their bows and arrows.

"Shoot everywhere!" Septimus yelled. "That witch isn't going to get away!"

"Illusia, run to where you came from!" Melina screamed. I saw it was the best choice. If I was caught, Melina would be in a still bigger trouble than she was now. At least, thankfully, she hadn't mentioned the location of the Royal Stone in the second part of our conversation.

But I couldn't leave her alone, with these brutes. I did the only possible thing. I shot a transformation spell at myself. It was dangerous – Mom and Aunts always said it was to be used as absolutely the last resort. Yet now it was the last resort. A shiver went through me, and I felt horribly weird. My body shrank like a balloon, only a hundred times faster. I felt two more limbs growing from my body, and two pairs of wings – from my back. My limbs were now thin and covered with fluff. My ears became long and even thinner. If I had been visible, I would have seemed an ordinary plain moth.

Naturally, everyone, including Melina, thought I returned to the world of the Moonlight River. When I hid myself in one of the half-opened sacks with flour. It was very uncomfortable, I would have sneezed if a moth was able to do it. But it was safe from arrows.

Meanwhile, the arrows went literally almost everywhere, just as Septimus had ordered. As they hit no animate thing, Melina smiled:

"She managed to escape!"

Septimus snatched her by the hair and pulled it hard. Melina yelped and whimpered in pain.

"You're going to pay for this," he barked. "Selina the Fearless, indeed. Guards! Take her to the Black Cell."

Melina cried as the soldiers gripped her wrists and pulled her away. She somehow managed to break free and sank to her knees in front of Septimus.

"Oh, please, sir, pardon me! Don't throw me into the Black Cell, whatever it is! I am sorry! I will never try to trick you again!"

"Will you tell me where the Stone is?" Septimus raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, I will, if you'll only pardon me!"

I sighed in despair. What fools we were! We entrusted the Royal Stone to a weak young girl with no magical abilities. Of course, her spirit was quite strong, but still it could be broken. After so many hours of torture, she obviously could bear it no longer.

"Well, then, where?"

"I… I threw it down the stairway… in the palace… to the Gloomy Cellar!" she sobbed. "R-Rubianne must have p-picked it up already!"

"She hasn't!" Septimus exclaimed triumphantly. "If she had it, I, as a Stormhold royal, would have certainly felt the Stone changing from her magic. I feel nothing! Rubianne didn't certainly expect the Stone being hidden under her very nose! Guards! Tell Commander Mirle and his men that I order them to go to the Gloomy Cellar and search for my Stone."

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers shouted in unison and left.

I made a ridiculous dance of triumph (especially ridiculous since I was a moth in a sack full of flour). Melina never ceased to amaze me. And I was fooled by her fake surrender as well!

What was more, I knew something Melina didn't know. The soldiers were going into a trap – unless they had a Babylon candle, which I doubted. If they mustered the courage to go to the Gloomy Cellar, they would never get away from it – the stairway was broken.

"C-can I go away now, sir?" Melina asked shyly.

"No," he cut her short. "You are going to stay here until I have the Stone in my hand. You're a clever girl, how can I know it's not another of your excellent lies?"

Melina, who had previously almost relaxed, stiffened again. She trembled in fright. Septimus wasn't anything like a fool, obviously.


End file.
